The Group
by EHfan
Summary: When Jacob is called upon to assist an old mentor, Rachel gets a chance to meet some of his old friends.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: With apologies to Mary McCarthy but the title was irresistible. This story is set a few months after "Mother's Day" and a few months before "Labor Day."

 _Tuesday morning -_

"Jesus, Hood, it's about time you got out of the shower. What're you trying to do? Set a Guinness world record?"

Jacob Hood paused in the bathroom doorway, his eyebrows raised in surprise. He wondered how he managed to piss off Rachel. He realized her pregnancy hormones could be a bit unpredictable but she was usually more even-tempered. He looked at her speculatively, trying to read any cues in her body language. But she was just standing there, half-dressed, her hands on her hips with an annoyed look on her face. He decided to go with the obvious.

"Uh, I'm sorry? Did you need to use the bathroom?"

Rachel snorted in disgust. "No I do not need to pee. Trust me, I think I could figure out I can safely go in to pee while you're in the shower."

Jacob resumed toweling his hair dry. "Rachel, I'm not a mind reader, if you're annoyed with me, just say so, ok?"

Rachel smiled reluctantly. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just... I'm so damned frustrated trying to get this skirt fastened. Alex showed me how to use a rubber band to make the waistline bigger but it's hard to do it behind my back."

Realization dawned. "And you'd like me to do it for you?" At Rachel's grateful nod, Jacob took the rubber band she was holding and began looping it around the button, through the buttonhole and back.

"Why are you going to this much trouble? I thought you and Alex went shopping for maternity clothes last weekend?"

Rachel leaned back against Jacob with a sigh and his arms circled her waist. "I'm at the awkward stage; I've gained enough weight to make my regular clothes to tight but not enough so maternity clothes are to loose."

"Come on, you haven't gained that much weight." Jacob ran his hands up and down her midriff and around her waist Privately Jacob was amazed she gained any weight at all. Pregnant Rachel kept up her fitness regime: running five miles daily, lifting weights a few times a week at the gym in the Hoover Building, and attending a yoga class every Saturday. When he tentatively raised his concerns to Rachel and her doctor, both women were dismissive. The doctor went so far as to say she wished all of her patients were as physically active. Her only caveat was that Rachel should listen to her body, scaling back when her condition warranted it. Jacob was relieved when Rachel decided the District's summer heat and humidity made running indoors a much more comfortable option.

"I've gained seven pounds, at my weight, that's about the difference from one size to the next."

"Well, why don't you buy some clothes one size up?" Jacob continued stoking her bare midriff bending his head to kiss the side of her neck.

"It wouldn't make sense, I'd be buying stuff I could wear for a couple of weeks and maybe never again. I got a bunch of longer tops that don't tuck in; I can make do until I fit into maternity clothes."

Breaking away from Jacob's roving hands Rachel picked up the top lying on the bed and slipped it over her head and shrugged on her suit jacket. "What do you think?"

Jacob titled his head and considered her outfit. In her suit, with the long top concealing her waist she looked like any other professional woman walking the streets of D.C. "You look fine."

He was surprised at how little her body had changed even though she was now in her fourth month. Her breasts were a bit fuller, her waist a bit thicker and her stomach had developed a slight pooch but in his opinion her body wasn't much different than the non-pregnant women he saw every day.

"But," he said, pulling her back into his arms. "You looked much, much better without the top." Jacob slid his hands under the top, caressing her back. "Why don't you….."

Rachel laughed softly as they were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. "Saved by the bell, you know we have to hurry." She twisted her arm to check her watch. "We need to leave pretty soon if I want to make my 9 o'clock."

Still smiling she opened the door to Special Agent Terrance Mason. Her smile broadened at the sight of the bakery bag in his hands. "You have learned well grasshopper."

Terrance returned her smile, "Thank you master."

When he joined the Special Science Advisor's team, SAC Young had made it clear his EPD training was inadequate to the task of keeping Dr. Hood safe. She took him through numerous drills and scenarios, quizzing him on what he would do in what he considered outlandish situations, like Dr. Hood stepping in front of a speeding car. But when he had to pull the man from a crumbling cliff he appreciated her tips. The good doctor had been so intent on studying the action of the waves at the bottom of the cliff he didn't notice the ground literally falling out from under him.

She also pointed out that he was responsible for more than Dr. Hood's physical safety; the doctor couldn't concentrate if he was worried about something. And these days the thing that caused him the most worry was how his wife was doing. So Terrance made it his job to make sure SAC Young was happy. Hence the pastry. Dr. Hood insisted on having a healthy breakfast but SAC Young had a sweet tooth and she grumbled at the fare he produced. Terrance made it his business to supplement breakfast with offerings from the local bakery.

As he could have predicted, Dr. Hood raised his eyebrows and made a comment about "empty calories" and SAC Young countered that muffins with blueberries in them counted as a fruit. Their good-natured banter was cut short when he reminded them that if SAC Young wanted to make her early morning meeting they needed to leave. Now. Shaking his head in disapproval, Dr. Hood announced that to make up for the less than healthy breakfast, he'd make sure she had a decent lunch.

….

Terrance looked up with relief when the phone in Dr. Hood's lab in the Hoover Building rang. He devoutly hoped it meant he would be going out into the field with Dr. Hood. In the four months he'd been on this detail they only worked three cases. He was beginning to feel this posting wasn't quite what it was cracked up to be.

The promise of the phone call fizzled out. It was only the security desk at the entrance to the building. There were two old people trying to visit Dr. Hood, but they weren't on the list of expected visitors. Terrance took their names and promised the security guard he would look into the matter. He was half-way to the door when he paused with a grimace. True to his promise, Dr. Hood was having lunch with SAC Young. Since the weather was hot and muggy, Dr. Hood decided to go out and buy a picnic lunch for them to enjoy in her office. Remembering what he had interrupted the last time he walked in on those two he wasn't in a hurry to repeat the experience. _'Honestly,'_ he thought, _'at his age and in her condition, you'd think they'd show a little ... restraint.'_ Terrance grinned, turned and reached for the phone. There was someone else who could have the pleasure of interrupting Dr. Hood and his wife during their ... lunch.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Naomi Siefert sniffed disdainfully as she glared at the closed office door. She could just _imagine_ what was going on in there. She hadn't been happy when she learned her new boss was a woman half her age. She also thought her new boss was something of a show-off. The first week some reports had been delivered from the Foreign Terrorist Watch Group. When she tried to organize them, as she had done for the previous SAC, she was irritated to see that the original Arabic intercepts were included with the translations. When she complained to _that woman_ about the mistake, she had been coolly informed that there was no mistake.

"I told them to send me the originals. I want compare them to the translations the Watch Group compiled."

Then there was that husband of hers. Naomi grudgingly admitted that he was pleasant enough, always polite. But honestly! Half the time he looked as if he had his head in the clouds, and the other half, Naomi blushed. She'd never forget the glimpse she got of them kissing when that poor handler of Dr. Hood's walked in on them. It had been positively indecent. She wouldn't be at all surprised at what the two of them got up to behind closed doors. She frowned as her phone rang; according to the caller ID it was Dr. Hood calling. She answered cautiously and her frown deepened at what she heard. Hanging up she looked at the door indecisively for a few moments then her lips pursed as she reached for the phone. She certainly wasn't going to put herself in an embarrassing position by walking in on those two.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Seated on the blanket Jacob spread on her office floor, Rachel gave a moan of pleasure as she finished the chocolate covered strawberries he bought for dessert. Jacob's lips quirked up as he leaned over to place a finger across her lips.

"You need to be quiet, otherwise old frozen face out there will think we're having sex."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Let her. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll get so disgusted with us she'll request a transfer." She looked thoughtful, "or maybe retire. I'll have to check and see how close she is to retirement age."

"Is she still giving you a hard time? I would think after all these months she's have become reconciled to working for you."

"It's not that she gives me a hard time, she just can't stop telling me how SAC Ernst would do things. I think she's just one of those women who doesn't like working for another women." Rachel shrugged, "Whatever, she's only a minor pain in my ass. I can deal with her."

"Well, if you really want to get rid of her," Jacob said as he reached for her, "maybe we can …"

Rachel laughed at the expression on Jacob's face as her phone began ringing. "Your timing today is pretty bad." She carefully got to her feet and crossed over to her desk.

"Hello Naomi, what's up?" Rachel listened carefully. "Hmm, ok, thanks for letting me know." She hung up the phone. "Jacob, there are two people downstairs who want to see you, an Arthur and Charlotte Heilman, how would..."

Jacob scrambled to his feet, an expression of surprise on his face. "Arthur and Charlotte are here? I wonder what they want." He explained to Rachel, "Arthur was chair of my dissertation committee when I was working on my PhD. He was my mentor." He smiled faintly, "and Charlotte always mothered Arthur's students since they didn't have children of their own. I haven't seen them …" Jacob paused, the last time he had seen them was at Maggie's funeral. ".. Um, for years."

"So," Rachel prodded, "do you want Terrance to bring them here? Or to your lab?"

"My lab," Jacob said. He wasn't sure he was up to introducing Rachel. He hurriedly kissed her goodbye and left without saying anything further.

Rachel looked at his retreating back in surprise. She shrugged and picked up the phone, "Terrance? Hood wants to see those two. Get them and bring them to the lab. He'll be there by the time you get back."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Jacob, dear, it's so good to see you again." An older women with a silver grey hair held out her hands to him.

"Charlotte," Jacob murmured, taking her hands and accepting a kiss on the cheek. "It's good to see you." Smiling he held out his hand to the older man. "And you Arthur, how are you? It's been too long."

"And whose fault is that?" Arthur said taking the hand Jacob extended.

"Now Arthur," Charlotte chided him. "Jacob's a busy man, he's in the real world now, not academia."

Jacob gratefully took the straw Charlotte offered, "Um, yes, my time isn't exactly my own in this job. It can be, um, unpredictable."

In the corner Terrance gave a small huff of disbelief. As far as he could tell Dr. Hood pretty much set his own schedule. He blushed as the two older people looked at him inquiringly and Dr. Hood grimaced at him. "Uh, a frog in my throat." He coughed theatrically.

"So what brings you to Washington? A conference? Lecture?" Jacob asked.

Charlotte and Arthur glanced at each other, Arthur seemed reluctant to speak but Charlotte nodded encouragingly.

"Actually, we've come down to see you," Arthur said slowly. "We, I thought you might be able to give me some help."

"That's very flattering," Jacob smiled at his old teacher, "but I sincerely doubt there's anything I could teach you Arthur."

"It's not a matter of science, well not exactly." At Jacob's raised eyebrows he continued, "I need to consult you more as someone who has experience with wrong-doing, like your FBI work."

"Arthur, I don't know what you think I do here, but I'm not an agent. What I do is similar to field work."

"Let me tell him," Charlotte interrupted. "You're making a hash of it."

The story she told was simple and straight to the point. Things had been going wrong with Arthur's work. His current project dealt with applying the principles of biophysics to botany. He hoped to develop a genetically modified tomato containing more grams of protein and fewer grams of carbohydrates. Preliminary research notes went missing and computer files became corrupted. At first he put the problems down to carelessness on the part of his research assistants. But when taxed, they denied the allegations. Just as Arthur was beginning to worry that perhaps his mental abilities were deteriorating things got a bit worse.

The early experiments in the small greenhouse he set up were going well when problems developed. As in the preliminary stages, it started small. A window left open on a cold night killed a tray of seedlings. A week later a too rich mixture of fertilizer killed another tray. Arthur was positive neither of these things were accidents; his lab tech was responsible for checking the greenhouse at the end of every day and his research assistant for mixing the fertilizer. It was too much of a coincidence to think that both of them, each of whom had impeccable work records, could make such critical mistakes.

"I agree," Jacob interrupted Charlotte. "It would be quite a coincidence for something like that to happen. But," he hesitated, "what do you want me to do? To question your assistants?"

"No, I've already done that," Arthur spoke up. "Bill and Christina both swear they don't know how any of these accidents happened." He flushed, "actually I think they both suspect me of making the mistakes." When Jacob protested he shrugged, "I'm getting old Jacob, it's not that far-fetched." A fierce look crossed his face, "but last night, that was different."

The previous evening Arthur decided to put the greenhouse to bed himself. In a routine inspection of his latest seedlings, he was horrified to discover several cutworms. "Cutworms! In my greenhouse." Arthur's voice was shaking, "There's no way that occurs naturally. Someone introduced them into my greenhouse." This discovery decided him; he went home and told Charlotte they were leaving for D.C. in the morning.

"I still don't see what you want me to do," Jacob said. "I mean, I'm not a FBI agent …."

"I'm not looking for an FBI agent," Arthur said. "But your experience these last years, you know what to look for, how to conduct a discreet investigation. I'm convinced someone is sabotaging my work."

Jacob was puzzled. "If you think that why aren't you involving the Harvard authorities? Surely, they have the facilities to conduct..." He trailed off at the uncomfortable looks on the faces of both Arthur and Charlotte. "What aren't you telling me?"

Arthur looked at him sadly. "I'm afraid to tell them."

"What!" Jacob was indignant. "You can't believe that you're responsible, that your mind is failing and you've been making these mistakes. I won't believe that, I read your last paper, it was as brilliant as always."

"It's not that Jacob," Charlotte said softly, the subject clearly pained her. "We talked about this last night, on the way down here." She and Arthur exchanged glances.

"It has to be one of the group." Arthur said.

Jacob's eyes widened in shock. "You can't be serious, isn't it more likely to be either of your lab assistants?"

"No," Arthur shook his head, "You know Bill, he's been with me for years. He's totally loyal to me. As for Christina, she's one of the best grad students I've had in a while. Besides, she doesn't have any reason to sabotage the work, hell, I'm giving her credit as co-researcher. If this thing works out it will launch her career."

Jacob was still doubtful, "But would they even have access to your work?

"Yes, all of them would have." Arthur gave a moue of impatience, "I'm being honored by Harvard this year. I think they're hoping to force me into retirement by giving me a lifetime achievement award next week. There's a symposium involved and most of them are participating."

"Since most of them would be in town anyway, the group decided to have this year's reunion that weekend." Charlotte took over the explanation. "Between that and hammering down the details of the symposium all of them have been in and out of Boston, Arthur's lab, and the greenhouse for the last few months. Any of them could have done the damage."

"Why would any of them want to harm you, your work?" Jacob argued. "It doesn't make sense. They're all friends, colleagues. Hell, all of them owe their careers to you."

Arthur smiled faintly, "I wouldn't go that far, I may have given you all a boost, but you're responsible for your own careers, all of you." He shrugged, "as to why, who can say? Who knows? Maybe it's payback for an imagined slight from years ago."

"Not necessarily," Terrance piped up.

"Who the hell are you young man?" Arthur asked irritably.

"This is Terrance Mason, my, uh, handler," Jacob said. He looked at Terrance with approval. The young man was shaping up nicely as Rachel's replacement; he was taking an interest in what was going on around him, he didn't wait to be invited to participate, and he had a creative mind. "What are you thinking?"

"Dr. Heilman's developing a GMO, a lot of people don't like scientists monkeying around with the food supply. Maybe one of them has bribed or blackmailed or somehow corrupted his research assistants or lab tech."

"Monkeying around?" Arthur sputtered. "I'd hardly call months of experimentation aimed at improving nutrition for millions of people monkeying around."

"I take it you don't approve of GMO's?" Jacob asked Terrance mildly. When the young man merely shrugged, Jacob titled his head to one side and nodded at the Subway sandwich wrapper in the trashcan. "You had a turkey sandwich for lunch today didn't you?"

"Uh yeah," Terrance wasn't sure where this was going but he knew better than to think Dr. Hood's question was a non sequitur. "Why?"

Jacob countered with another question, "Have you ever seen a wild turkey?"

"Um, sure," said Terrance, "mostly brown, kind of scrawny."

""Exactly," Jacob answered, "and that's pretty much how all turkeys _used_ to look. People think it's strange that Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey as the national bird. What they don't understand is the turkey Franklin knew had little to do with the one they're most familiar with, the big, fat turkey with plenty of white meat. _That_ turkey is the product of selective breeding. In short, the turkey you eat today is a genetically modified organism."

Charlotte bit back a smile, it might have been years since Jacob stood in front of a classroom but it was evident he hadn't given up teaching.

"I knew we were right to come here," she declared. She smiled at Terrance warmly. "It never occurred to either of us that someone might undermined Arthur's work for political reasons." She looked at Jacob ruefully, "we jumped to the conclusion it was personal."

"I'm still convinced it is." Arthur said. "I haven't published anything about this project, it's not likely anyone outside of my circle has heard about it."

Jacob and Terrance exchanged glances, they both realized it would be fruitless to argue with the old man about the many ways his current research project could have become public knowledge.

"Yes, I can see that," Jacob said soothingly, "and yes, you were right to come to me. I can put out some feelers, see if any of them has anything in their background to suggest…"

"That's all well and good," Arthur cut in, "but I think it would make a lot more sense for you to come to Boston for the symposium and the reunion. It would give you a chance to size them up yourself, ask a few questions." He glared at Jacob, "conduct a real investigation."

"That might not be a good idea," Jacob objected. He hesitated, not quite sure how to word it, "it's, um, been a few years since I've been to one of these things." To be accurate, he hadn't been to one of the reunions since Maggie became ill.

"I know", Charlotte said, "But this silly award Arthur is getting gives you the perfect excuse to show up again."

Jacob still resisted the idea of going to Boston. "That would work for me but I'd need my team available if you expect me to conduct an investigation." He relaxed a bit, it looked like he could dodge this request after all. "I couldn't justify taking them to Boston, using Bureau resources on a personal matter."

Once again Terrance interjected himself into the conversation. "Uh, Dr. Hood? It might be not be something personal. It might be something that concerns the Bureau."

"What are you talking about?" Jacob shot the young man an irritated look.

Terrance colored a bit, "on that case in Florida, I remember you said that research is expensive, that even when you were at Stanford you had to chase outside funding."

Jacob smiled involuntarily. He might be temporarily annoyed at Terrance but he was pleased to have more evidence the boy was paying attention.

Reassured by the smile Terrance plowed on, "so I was wondering, Dr. Heilman, who's funding your research into the new tomato?"

Arthur was taken aback, this was another aspect he hadn't considered. "I've gotten a grant from the SARE program."

At Terrance's puzzled look, Jacob explained, "It's a research program established by the Department of Agriculture to encourage sustainable agriculture." His eyebrows rose as the implication hit him. "Which means we have potential sabotage in a federally funded scientific research project. Definitely something of concern to the Bureau."

Terrance nodded happily, it looked as if he was going out in the field. A sudden thought struck him. "Do you think we should notify SAC Young sir?"

It was Jacob's turn to look puzzled. "Well of course I'll let Rachel know I'm going …"

"No," Terrance interrupted, "We need to notify SAC Young."

Jacob instantly realized the distinction Terrance was making. The young man was careful to differentiate between Rachel's personal and professional roles in his life. "Why?

"This might be a matter of national security," Terrance shrugged. "I don't know, I mean, it might be some kind of domestic, eco-terrorist kind of thing. Who knows? Counter-terrorism might already have this situation on their radar."

Jacob tilted his head and nipped in his lower lip. "You might have something there, we should involve Rachel."

"Absolutely not!" declared Arthur vehemently. The others looked at him in surprise. "It's one thing if you bring him," Arthur gestured toward Terrance. "People have heard you travel with an agent. But how will you explain this Rachel person? It would tip people off that I suspect them of sabotage."

'Uh, actually, it wouldn't be hard to explain Rachel," Jacob colored faintly. "She's um, my wife." He plowed on ignoring the looks of shock on Arthur and Charlotte's faces. "But Rachel wouldn't be the one to accompany us. She's not a field agent anymore, she's in charge of the Counter-terrorism Division. It will be up to her if she wants to send an agent along with us."

Charlotte was the first to recover from the shock of hearing Jacob had remarried. "Well, why don't we ask her?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rachel sat impassively as she listened as Arthur, with occasional contributions from Charlotte, once again outlined what was happening in his lab, to his research. She sat silently for a moment after he finished his tale. She looked at the group of people surrounding her desk. "Let me get this straight," she said slowly, "you want a discreet investigation because you think a member of this group of yours is involved?" At Arthur's nod, she asked "but exactly who or what is this _group_?"

Jacob launched into an explanation. Customarily, a graduate program limits the number of new students it admits each year; a department can only support a finite group of graduate students. Normally it takes seven years to complete a PhD but the number of grad students isn't evenly distributed over those seven years, there's always some attrition. The year Jacob began his graduate work at Harvard was an anomaly. There were more than the anticipated openings caused by graduations. Two grad students left the program to pursue jobs outside of academia. Another finished his dissertation ahead of schedule and was immediately offered a post-doc fellowship at Berkeley. A fourth student was dismissed for failure to progress satisfactorily academically. So instead of the normal two or three new grad students there were six.

As any new group of PhD candidates would, they quickly formed a bond around the shared trials of their new roles. The size of this group, however, caused them to form an unusually tight bond. They were aware some faculty members disapproved of admitting so many new grad students; they worried the department was prizing quantity over quality. Because of this they were determined to help each other succeed. Arthur became the mentor to the group since he was the faculty member who was the most outspoken in supporting the admission of all of them. They became close friends and kept up the friendships as the years passed.

"Since they're scattered all over the country they try to get together once a year. A sort of class reunion." Charlotte put in. "Almost all of them come every year."

Rachel's eyebrow rose, this was the first time in the five years she'd known Jacob she'd heard about this group.

"I can see why you'd want a discreet investigation," Rachel said. "It would pretty much destroy your relationships if those people found out the two of you suspected them of sabotage."

Charlotte bit back a smile at the look of shock on Arthur's face and the look of dawning comprehension on Jacob's. She found it interesting that Jacob's wife unerringly zeroed in on the real issue. Arthur and Jacob only considered the potential damage to professional reputations. Rachel saw the real disaster, the destruction of friendships of almost a quarter of a century. She nodded in satisfaction, this woman might just be the wife Jacob needed.

Rachel turned her attention to Terrance. "Now, why do you think this might be something to interest my division?"

"Timing mostly," Terrance replied. "I know Dr. Heilman's afraid this is personal, but honestly? He can't think of a current beef any of these people have with him and I can't believe it's for some past slight. I mean, jeez, it's been how many years since they were students of his?" Terrance shook his head, "Yeah, I've heard revenge is a dish best served cold, but this? It's been what? Over 20 years? That's not cold, that's frozen over." Terrance shook his head, "no, I think it's more likely some eco-terrorists who oppose GMOs."

"I don't find it likely at all," Arthur snapped. "If you send another agent along with Jacob and this one," he jerked his head in Terrance's direction, "it will be impossible to conduct the investigation discreetly."

"We were hoping you would accompany Jacob," Charlotte said, "it would look more natural." She titled her head, "I know I'd love to get to know Jacob's wife."

Rachel sat chewing her lip, clearly divided in her thoughts. Politically, there had been a backlash regarding the Bureau's investigation into ecoterrorism; they were accused of targeting groups in ways that violated their First Amendment Rights. Even though the Bureau was cleared of those charges by a Congressional investigation, the Counter-Terrorism Division was treading warily in these cases. But she couldn't forget it was a car bomb set by an eco-terrorist group that brought Jacob under the protection of the EPD. If she accompanied Jacob it _would_ be easier to keep the investigation low-key. She could claim she was there in her personal capacity. If it turned out this case was terrorist related, she'd be on the scene to direct the action. She reached for the phone on her desk, "Naomi, I need to speak to EADA Hazelton about a potential episode of domestic terrorism."

She returned her attention to the group. "I need to run this by my boss." She flushed a bit, "I don't want him to think I'm taking advantage my position for personal reasons. If he thinks this is a good idea then it's a go; otherwise I'll have to assign another agent to the case." Her phone buzzed, it was EAD Hazelton and he wanted to see her in his office.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The group waited with varying degrees of patience in Rachel's office. Looking up as she entered, they guessed from the smile on her face what the answer was.

"I take it Curtis is agreeable?" Jacob said.

"Uh-huh," Rachel answered. "Dr. Heilman isn't the only one who wants a discreet investigation. The Bureau's taken a publicity hit on some of these investigations so EAD Hazelton's more than happy to not only have us low-key this one but to have the actual investigation done by another division." She hesitated, turning to Dr. Heilman, "I don't know if Jacob told you, but there actually is a third member of his team, Agent Lee. I'm afraid even with me representing C-T unofficially there's going to be another agent besides Terrance going to Boston with us."

Jacob intervened before Arthur could complain, "It will be fine, Arthur, Felix, uh, Agent Lee, he's really good at blending in, he's umm like a mouse."

"Actually," Rachel said, "it's going to be just as hard is explaining Jacob's appearance." She tilted her head, stopping Jacob's protest with a lift of her eyebrow. "It's been how long since you attended one of these shindigs? Do you really think they'll accept you're coming to just to show off your new wife?"

"What if they're part of the symposium?" Charlotte said.

She cut across Arthur and Jacob's objections. "No, it makes perfect sense. This symposium is in Arthur's honor, the speakers are his former students who will discuss their work and Arthur's influence on it." She smiled, "Everyone knows Arthur is a stickler about research protocols, so it would be natural for Jacob to talk about the abuses he's encountered as the Special Science Advisor. And," she finished triumphantly, "of course he'd want the agents he works with to add their perspectives about his work."

Rachel nodded in approval, "I like it. But can you get them added to the program?"

Arthur snorted, "Of course I can, the damned thing is in my honor, if I want Jacob to speak then he's going to speak. Besides," he add, "The organizers are all old friends, they'll be happy to cooperate even if it is the last minute."

Rachel picked up the phone and told Naomi to call Felix in to the meeting. As they waited for him to arrive she questioned Arthur and Charlotte about the plans already in place. Charlotte explained that most of the group would be arriving on the next Wednesday. There would be an informal dinner Wednesday night for the symposium organizers, Arthur's current grad student, his lab tech, and the other group members. The symposium was slated for Thursday and Friday. A formal dinner was planned for Friday. It was there that Arthur would receive his award. On Saturday Dr. and Mrs. Heilman had invited the members of the group to their home for brunch. After brunch, people would be returning home. The FBI contingent exchanged dismayed looks, it seemed that had a very limited window in which to conduct their investigation.

Terrance was tentatively offering some ideas on how they should proceed when Felix arrived.

Arthur's eyebrows rose, "He's your mouse?" he said sotto voce.

"Yep, a six foot six inch mouse," Jacob murmured. "You'd be surprised at how he can blend in."

Introductions were quickly performed and Felix was filled in on the problem. To everyone's surprise he disapproved of the plan.

"Nah," he scrunched up his face, "Me? At some fancy symposium? The Doc would have to write out stuff for me to say." He shrugged, "I told you, all that science stuff? That's not me. No, it's best for me to stick to my strengths."

"Which is gathering intel," Rachel said. "How are you going to do that and not raise suspicion?"

"I don't have to go to Boston, I can dig up whatever you need on these people from here. I've been doing a lot of liaison work with the Cyber Division. I can tap into their networks, work with them on doing the investigation," Felix said, "it's a win-win as far I'm concerned. I get to sharpen my skill set and the Doc gets the benefit of a consult with some real computer wizards.

As for the rest of it, it's pretty straight forward," Felix shrugged. "Terrance provides the kind of support _you_ always did, keeping his eyes open, coming up with lines of investigation. And you," he smiled broadly, "you're going as Mrs. Hood, not SAC Young. It'll be perfectly normal for you to question these people; hell, you're just trying to get to know your husband's old friends."

Rachel looked at Jacob; it would be his call as to allowing Felix to stay in D.C. Jacob, for his part, looked at Felix thoughtfully. Since the case in Idaho, Felix had been cultivating his contacts in Cyber. Jacob could understand his reasoning; as Felix said, it allowed him to refine his intelligence gathering skills, made the team some useful contacts, and, perhaps just as importantly, gave Felix an in with another division should he decide to transfer from the Special Science Advisor's team.

"Yes, that should work," Jacob said. "I can't think of anything Felix can't do from here rather than in Boston."

"Well," said Charlotte, getting to her feet. "That settles everything. Arthur and I need to head back to Boston before anyone realizes we're gone. We'll expect to see you on Wednesday."

With a flurry of goodbyes the two took their leave. Jacob stood, looking after them, lost in thought. Felix brought him back into the moment by loudly clearing his throat.

"So, Doc," he said, pulling a notebook out of his pocket. "Why don't you give me the names of your friends and I'll get started running the background checks."

Quickly Jacob sketched out the information on his six friends; three men and two women. Two of the men, Richard Sumner and Mike Cutler were nuclear physicists; Mike taught at Michigan and Richard worked for the Sandia National Laboratory. Stan Banks was a chaired professor of physics at M.I.T. The women's careers were just as distinguished; Miriam Hopkins was a professor of applied physics at Princeton and Hanna Click was a biophysicist like Jacob. She taught at Johns Hopkins.

Felix took careful notes but then pressed Jacob gently for personal details. Hanna and Stan were both married to spouses who were also in academia. Hanna's husband also taught at Johns Hopkins and Stan's wife was a librarian. Mike and Richard were divorced and Miriam had never married. After some prodding, Jacob gave Felix everyone's birthdays and hometowns.

"Ok," said Felix, snapping his notebook shut. "I'll get started on this right away."

"Why don't you come over to our place tonight," Rachel suggested. "I'll check with my people in C-T, see if there's any chatter about Dr. Heilman or his work, we can compare notes over dinner."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rachel pushed her food around her plate, she was feeling vaguely nauseous and a bit cranky. So far the most obvious symptom of her pregnancy were the bouts of nausea and vomiting. Unlike most women, however, Rachel suffered from evening sickness. It had gotten better since she entered her second trimester, but it hadn't totally subsided. She was unenthusiastic about eating dinner under the best of circumstances since she knew there was a good chance it would be coming back up before long. She shuddered a bit as she watched the others dig into their food.

Felix reached for a take-out carton of fried rice. "I gotta say Doc, I'm not sorry the way this investigation shook out. I'm learning a lot from the crew in Cyber." He shook his head in admiration. "What they don't know about computers and locating information isn't worth knowing."

"How nice for you," she said sarcastically. "Did you by any chance learn anything that could be helpful to the case?"

Felix didn't take offense. "Sure did." He learned over to pick up a pile of folders he had placed on the floor when the food arrived. "I was able to pull up a lot on all of them."

Jacob hesitated, intellectually he knew this had to be done but he hated the idea of delving into his friends personal lives. Coming to a decision he stood suddenly, picking up plates and the almost empty cartons of food. "Why don't I clear these away before you get really sick sweetheart?" He looked around, "I'm going to make coffee, decafe for Rachel; does anyone want regular?"

Terrance and Felix looked surprised as Jacob vanished into the kitchen. Rachel gave a small sigh.

"This is going to be hard on him," she said. "I mean, think about it, would either of _you_ want to know the dirt on your old friends."

The two men looked at each other, understanding dawning in their eyes.

"Uh, what do you suggest we do ma'am," Terrance asked. "I mean, we have to investigate these people, friends or not."

"Of course we do," Rachel said, "I'm not suggesting otherwise and neither would Jacob. Why don't we compartmentalize the investigation? The three of us will discuss the intel on anyone Jacob knows personally, I'll pass along to him anything we think he should know." At the two men's nods, Rachel said briskly, "good, that's settled. Now, what did you dig up?"

Felix launched into a recitation of what he had learned. For the most part, the Doc's old friends were solid citizens. They lived within their incomes. There was no evidence that they drank to excess, did drugs, or gambled. As a group they were apolitical, there was no record of large donations to any political party or candidate. They held respectable jobs and were well regarded in their fields.

"In other words, you got nothing," Rachel said with disgust.

"Not so fast," Felix replied, "I was saving the best to last."

It turned out Richard Sumner wasn't only divorced, his divorce was messy. His wife caught him having an affair with a student and gone nuclear. The divorce cost Sumner not only his family, his house and a huge chunk of his savings, it had also cost him his job. It seemed the University of Texas frowned upon faculty/student romances. The lab at Sandia snapped him up, but the position wasn't quite as prestigious as the one he had lost. Rumors were circulating that he was attempting to regain a position in academia; he had been in contact with his former colleagues, including Dr. Heilman, sounding out the possibilities. Rumors were also circulating that Heilman had not be particularly receptive to Sumner's overtures.

Miriam Hopkins recently ignited a war, not only in the field of biophysics, but in the academic scientific community more broadly. A paper she published was mildly criticized by a younger, male biophysicist. Miriam responded by accusing the man of denigrating the paper solely because the author was female. He hotly denied the charge. Other female scientists chimed in on Miriam's behalf, sharing stories of discrimination over the years. Others, both male and female, refuted these claims of discrimination intimating the true problem was shoddy thinking and research. Battle was joined and was being fought, academic fashion, with blog posts, opinion pieces, and in hastily formed symposiums. The issue had been going on for almost a year. All of this drew Felix's attention because Dr. Heilman's name had come up in the early days of the dispute. While he was not involved, he had been asked to render an opinion since he knew the original combatants. He had never weighed in on the issue.

"I don't know," Terrance said. "Those things seem kinda petty. I mean, this is their mentor, someone they've looked up to for a long time. Would they turn against them for this kind of stuff?"

"Let's ask the expert," Rachel said as Jacob re-entered the room with a tray holding a pot of coffee and some mugs.

Rachel briefly outlined the controversy Miriam was involved in and Richard's academic ambitions. And how Heilman seemed to be taking a standoffish positon in both cases. "So," she concluded, "do you think either of them might have it in for Heilman, see trashing his research as payback for not giving them his full support?

"I don't think so," he said slowly. "I really can't see Arthur weighing in on either case and they both should realize that." At Rachel's raised eyebrow he elaborated. "Arthur has always been opposed to academic politics getting in the way of the work. Miriam knows that, when we were students she tried often enough to get him to condemn this or that practice. As for Richard," Jacob's cheeks colored slightly, "What he did was unacceptable. He crossed a line Arthur laid down for us when we first started teaching. He wouldn't approve of Richard having an affair with a student. He would see it as proof Richard wasn't suited to a position in academia."

"Really?" Felix asked. "I mean, what's the big deal?" He winked at Jacob, "bet you had your pick of the campus cuties back in your single days Doc. Besides, it's not like Sumner was having it off with a kid." He checked his notes, "The student? She was a grad student, an adult."

"It's a huge deal," Jacob sputtered. "It's a complete violation of the teacher student relationship." He glared at Felix, "It's a line I was _never_ tempted to cross. The fact the woman was one of Richard's grad students makes it worse, not better. Grad students depend on their advisors for mentoring, introductions, recommendations. Richard knew better and he damn well knew Arthur would think so too."

Felix held up his hand, "Ok Doc, I get it. But I've got to tell ya, these two are the only ones in your group who even come close to having a beef with your old teacher."

Rachel recognized the stubborn look on Jacob's face. She knew he hated to think one of his old friends betrayed their mentor. "I think we should take what Felix found under advisement. It's an avenue I can follow up on in Boston. If either of them thinks they have a grievance against Dr. Heilman, they'll most likely be more than happy to unload to a sympathetic ear. Which I will be more than happy to provide."

Felix nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan to me. Did your people pick up any chatter about Dr. Heilman's work?"

Rachel hesitated. In reality, neither her people nor the Boston field office had any information about opposition to Dr. Heilman's work. She was reluctant to say so in front of Jacob, it would only emphasize that the motive was most likely personal. No, this information could wait.

"Nothing conclusive."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rachel sat cross-legged on the bed watching Jacob change into a t-shirt and sleep pants.

"Any reason why this group of yours never came up before?"

He paused in the act of pulling the shirt over his head. "I don't understand."

"Jacob, we've been together, in one way or another, for five years. I've never heard you mention this _group_ and, if I can believe Charlotte and Arthur Heilman, you've been friends with them for what, almost twenty-five years." She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "So, to repeat the question, what gives with you and this group?"

Jacob climbed into bed beside her with a sigh. "It's no big deal. It's just ... these people were part of my life before the FBI. Since then, well, I've, we've been busy. It wasn't convenient to make it to the reunions."

"Really? When was the last time you saw them?"

Jacob shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, all of them together? I guess, um, at Maggie's funeral."

Rachel's breath caught in her throat. Even though she knew Jacob loved her, even though the woman had been dead for seven years, she still felt a bit uncomfortable at the mention of Jacob's first wife. The wife who had been so beloved it had taken him years to overcome his grief.

Jacob hated the stricken look on Rachel's face. He knew she was making an erroneous connection. His reluctance to see his old friends had nothing to do with Maggie. What he really hated was having to deal with their condolences.

"It's not what you think," Jacob said as he pulled her into his arms. "Honestly, it's more a timing issue than anything. I _have_ kept up with most of them, individually." At Rachel's look of skepticism, his lips kicked up into a half smile. "Those contacts of mine? The ones I've called for assistance? That's who most of them are."

Rachel's eyes widened, "Johns Hopkins, the head of neonatal research? The one you called asking about chelation therapy during the case in Milwaukee? That was…"

"Yep, Hanna's husband, Will Harper. He's the leading neonatologist in the country." Jacob laid back, pulling Rachel down with him. She half-turned, snuggling into him, her arm across his waist, her leg thrown between his.

Jacob reached over and turned off the light. "I haven't been avoiding them, I just haven't been up for their trips down memory lane." He kissed the top of her head. "I prefer the future to the past."

"Umm, ok." Rachel lay quietly for a few minutes. "So, you were never tempted to cross the line with your students, huh?"

"What? No. Why would you even ask that?"

"I was wondering if I should cancel my order for my Halloween costume." Rachel giggled and snuggled a bit closer. "I was thinking of dressing up as a naughty school girl, but if you're not interested….."

Jacob gave a snort of laughter. "Considering you'll be seven month pregnant by then, I think you'd already have been a very naughty school girl."

Rachel's hand slid under the waistband of his sleep pants. "True, maybe I shouldn't wait until Halloween. Maybe we can discuss my latest exam grade now, Professor Hood."


	2. Chapter 2

_Wednesday morning - - - a week later_

Jacob looked at his watch with impatience. If Rachel didn't hurry, they would be late. Terrance would be here in any minute to pick them up. "Sweetheart, aren't you ready yet?"

"What's your hurry? Terrance isn't even here yet." Rachel entered the living room adjusting her earrings.

Jacob was taken aback at her appearance. While he didn't expect her to be wearing her FBI uniform of a dark suit, her regular clothes tended to be tailored pieces in earth or jewel tones. The A-line dress she was wearing was nothing like that; it was a bold electric blue and white floral print with short sleeves and a ruffled hem. It was also a bit shorter than the dresses Rachel normally wore. Jacob blinked, not only was the dress different, but Rachel herself was different. It took him a moment to realize the dark eyeliner that emphasized her blue eyes was missing. She didn't seem to be wearing much makeup at all, only a light pink lip gloss. He was slightly discomfited to think she looked younger than her 32 years.

"Ah…., new dress?"

Rachel grinned. "I borrowed a few dresses from my friend Amanda." She looked at herself in the mirror with approval. "They're actually comfortable since they're meant to be kind of floaty. They hide my pregnancy nicely." She smiled at him, "just the kind of thing your young, not to bright wife might wear."

"What? Not so bright? Why would you say that?"

Rachel lightly kissed Jacob. "I think it would be a good idea if we're kind of vague about what I do, how long we've been together." At Jacob's look of confusion she shrugged, "Look, if you tell them we've been married over a year, known each other for five, they might wonder why they never heard about me. I don't want them to wonder about me, I want to fade into the background."

Jacob grimaced but he could see Rachel's point. It would be best if they didn't think twice about any questions she might ask. Any further discussion was cut short as the apartment doorbell rang. Rachel went to answer it.

"Hi Terrance, we're ready to go, Jacob just needs to grab our bags."

To Jacob's surprise, Terrance didn't raise an eyebrow at Rachel's appearance. He was wondering if he was being a bit too sensitive, a bit too concerned her appearance emphasized the difference in their ages. He kept up his reverie until they reached the elevator. As the door was closing, Terrance leaned toward Rachel and whispered, "Nice disguise ma'am," The door closed upon the three of them breaking up in laughter.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

' _Old habits die hard,'_ Rachel thought to herself ruefully. She caught herself automatically quartering the crowded hotel lobby, doing a threat assessment, as Jacob and Terrance registered. She had been surprised to find the staid Cambridge hotel full of activity. Jacob explained that while the symposium itself was being held at Harvard, the speakers were all booked in here and it was where the dinners and other social events would take place. As she continued to scan the crowd she felt a bit conspicuous. In the sea of muted grays, browns, and blacks she was the only spot of color. She also noted, of the few women who wore skirts or dresses, hers was by far the shortest. In a way this pleased her, she was obviously an outsider; she hoped this would help Jacob's friends discount her. She idly wondered which, if any, of these people were members of the group. This question was answered when she found herself elbowed aside by a tall, rangy brunette.

"Jacob!" the woman shrieked. She threw her arms around him, "it's been forever. How are you?"

Soon Jacob was at the center of a chattering crowd. Rachel raised her eyebrows at Terrance, this was the very definition of a security breach. He grimaced and shifted position until he was beside her.

"It's ok," he murmured in her ear. "I've been checking out pictures for the last few days, these are all members of that _group_ of his. They're not a threat."

Rachel gave a small snort, in her mind if one of these people was responsible for the sabotage of Dr. Heilman's research they were a potential source of danger. However, she grudgingly admitted to herself that Terrance was handling the situation correctly. If he did anything to interfere in what was obviously a reunion of old friends it might tip off the saboteur. For now, it was perfectly appropriate to allow this crowd to, to, _swarm_ around Jacob. Listening carefully, she began to put names to faces. The brunette who practically shoved her aside was one of their suspects, Miriam Hopkins. Her eyebrows rose at the way the woman would constantly touch Jacob's arm or shoulder. She was beginning to wonder if she should do something to remind him of her presence.

As if he had read her mind, Jacob turned to include her and Terrance in the group surrounding him. "Umm, I'd like you to meet …."

He was interrupted by Miriam. "Your entourage?" She laughed lightly, "I've heard about the agents following you around, was it necessary to bring them here?" She threw a look of scorn at Terrance and Rachel, "I mean, you're hardly going to need your P.A. and a junior G-man at the symposium are you?"

Jacob gaped in shock at Miriam's rudeness. He could see Terrance stiffen in annoyance and he half expected an explosion from Rachel. "Ah, actually, this is Agent Mason, my bodyguard and as such, yes, he accompanies me everywhere." He smiled and pulled Rachel to his side, "and this is Rachel, my wife."

Rachel smiled demurely, amused by the shocked looks on the faces surrounding her. Especially the look on Miriam's face; _she_ looked as if she had been pole-axed. Stan's wife Julia was the first to recover. She asked when they were married, when Jacob answered "April" she hugged him and then Rachel and offered her congratulations. The others quickly followed suit, some of the men teasing Jacob about his young and attractive wife. Jacob frowned a bit at this but before he could say anything Miriam finally recovered.

"She's your _wife_? Why didn't you tell any of us you were married?"

"Maybe he was waiting for the appropriate opportunity." Charlotte Heilman easily swept through the group to bestow a hug upon both Jacob and Rachel. "It's so good to see you both again. I hope your trip up went well?"

Miriam wasn't to be denied. "You knew about this? Why didn't you say anything to the rest of us?"

Charlotte regarded Miriam coolly, she had never quite liked the woman. While the rest of Arthur's students had always treated her well and appreciated the things she did for them, Miriam had a tendency to treat her as if she was nothing but an appendage of Arthur's. And a superfluous appendage at that.

"Yes, I met Jacob's wife when Arthur and I went to D.C. to persuade him to participate in the symposium." She gave a delicate shrug, "and it wasn't my news to tell." She smile brightly, "but now the cat's out of the bag, I'd like to invite you all to our suite after dinner," she reached out to squeeze Rachel's hand, "a small celebration of this happy news."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rachel idly pushed the food around on her plate as she listened to the dinner conversation swirl around her. The cocktail hour before dinner had been enlightening. Miriam was the only one who showed an undue curiosity about her and she was able to evade those questions easily. When Miriam bluntly asked her what her job was, Rachel parried by claiming to be a "paper-pushing bureaucrat." When she tried to pin Rachel down on her educational background she replied she went to school in D.C. The others did show some interest in how long her relationship with Jacob had been going on; she smiled sweetly and said it was a whirlwind romance. While that raised a few eyebrows they were more than happy to take her at face value.

Aside from Miriam, the others were welcoming; Julia Banks was especially helpful. As a trailing spouse she was more than happy to share her impressions of her husband's friends. Felix had been right; in her role as Jacob's bride, no one raised an eyebrow at her questions. Between Julia's gossip and her own questions, Rachel felt she had a good handle on the personalities of all the players in this little drama. Even so, Rachel found it a bit distasteful how the Julia was particularly gleeful to let her know that Miriam had a long-standing crush on Jacob.

She narrowed her eyes as she watched Miriam lay a hand on Jacob's arm to claim his attention. _'As if I couldn't figure that out for myself.'_ Just as Miriam had pushed her out of the way in the lobby earlier, when it came time to find seats for dinner, Miriam has elbowed others aside to make sure she had a place next to Jacob.

The annoyance Rachel felt over Miriam's behavior wasn't due to jealousy; Miriam's flirting was impeding the investigation. On the trip up to Boston Terrance had wondered if someone might be sabotaging Dr. Heilman's work to delay his results. Maybe one of the group was working on a similar project and wanted to beat him to the finish line. Jacob's eyebrows rose at this, he hadn't considered this angle but agreed it was a good one. They decided Jacob would bring up current projects over dinner.

Miriam frustrated that plan. Every time Jacob would try to bring the conversation around to the present, Miriam would hijack the discussion with another round of "remember when." Since it had been a while since they were all together, the others were more than happy to reminisce. Rachel was the only one shut out of these conversations since the other two spouses were also long-standing members of the group. Rachel couldn't figure out if Miriam was doing this to make her feel left out or if she was trying to keep the conversation off of the present and whatever projects she might be working on. Either way it irritated Rachel.

Her irritation was also fueled by the fact she could feel a bout of nausea coming on. Her doctor assured her the evening sickness would wane now that she was in her second trimester. While she wasn't getting sick every day anymore, she was still having occasional bouts of nausea and vomiting. For the first time ever she regretted being in the field; she prayed her nausea wouldn't interfere with her investigation.

Her lack of appetite did not go unnoticed. Charlotte noted the fine sheen on Rachel's face and had a shrewd hunch what the problem might be. Miriam also noticed but, without Charlotte's insight, put a different spin on Rachel's lack of interest in her food. _'Probably anorexic,'_ she thought scornfully.

Rachel was relieved when dinner was over and they all adjourned to Charlotte and Arthur's suite. Being able to walk around eased her nausea; she was confident she was back in control of her body. She had a bad moment when Charlotte produced some bottles of champagne and a small wedding cake with thick white icing. She accepted flute of champagne and pretended to sip. She looked wistfully at the cake and took a nibble or two before abandoning her plate and glass to continue her subtle interrogation of what she already mentally termed her suspects.

After speaking to several people, Rachel murmured an excuse and slipped away from the crowd. She briefly caught Jacob's eye and tilted her head toward the doors leading to the balcony. At the lift of his eyebrow she shook her head, she didn't have any information to share; she merely wanted to be alone for a while. She gave a sigh of relief as the cool night air surrounded her. The room was stuffy and she was still feeling queasy. She moved deeper into the shadows as Stan, Hanna, and Mike came out on the balcony. She was enjoying the brief respite and had no intention of being drawn into conversation. Luckily for her, they didn't register her presence as they began talking about their work. Rachel unashamedly eavesdropped.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jacob's forehead creased as he watched Rachel slip out of the room.

Charlotte, seeing his distress, quietly came up beside him. "Is everything all right? Is Rachel not feeling well?" she asked softly.

A small smile tugged on Jacob's lips. "Uh, no she's fine." At Charlotte's raised eyebrows, he shrugged slightly, "it's just, well, she's pregnant."

Charlotte smiled and grasped Jacob's hand. "How wonderful! I'm so happy for the both of you, I had a hunch something was up when Rachel just picked at her dinner but I hated to ask."

He grinned sheepishly, "Rachel's just entered her second trimester so you're the first non-family member we've, um, I've told."

Neither Charlotte nor Jacob noticed Richard standing close by, a look of surprise on his face. Grinning broadly, he headed toward the balcony. This gossip was too good not to share. He gleefully imagined how this bit of news would put Miriam's nose out of joint.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The threesome on the balcony gave small sighs of annoyance as Miriam came out to join them. They had been enjoying catching up on each other's work and they didn't want to listen to anymore of Miriam's nonsense. Aside from her, they all decided Jacob's new wife was a pretty little thing; if he was happy with her, who were they to judge? They really weren't looking forward to hearing any more of Miriam's complaints.

Interrupting the conversation around her and oblivious to the reaction of her audience, Miriam launched into a series of complaints about Rachel, how she suspected the woman was anorexic, how she had so little to say for herself, her total ignorance of anything to do with biophysics. "I don't know what Jacob sees in that... that... child!" she sputtered.

Joining them on the balcony, Richard said with a smirk, "I think it's pretty obvious what he sees in her,"

At Miriam's puzzled look, he elaborated, "She's a sexy little piece. Any man would enjoy having her in his bed."

Miriam bristled, "I hardly think Jacob's the type to fall for a pretty face and an empty head. Honestly what can they have in common? From what I gathered she has some kind of clerical job at the FBI. Why would he marry someone like that?"

"Because she's pregnant? I just overhead Jacob tell Charlotte the news." He enjoyed the look on his friends' faces. "And," he added slyly, "she's four months gone."

Miriam mentally counted backwards to April and gave a snort of disgust, "Well that explains it. She must have got herself knocked up on purpose to trap him."

Hanna exploded, "Oh for God's, you're all being ridiculous and sexist. I've talked to the woman which is more than any of you can say. Why wouldn't Jacob want to marry her? So she's a secretary? So what? She's nice."

Miriam shrugged, unrepentant in the face of her friend's censure, "It's the only thing that makes sense. We all knew Maggie, this one is nothing like her." She shook her head, "I can't imagine what Jacob thought when she told him."

"He was thrilled," a voice said out of the darkness.

Miriam turned bright red, the others gaped in horror as Rachel casually moved toward them. "We were kinda shocked when my test was positive, but," she smiled gently, "Jacob was thrilled all the same."

Hanna, sputtering, tried to apologize for the unkind remarks of the others. "Oh, don't worry," Rachel said gently. She turned, her hand on the door, "My friends were surprised at our marriage too." Her lips curved upward. _'Damn straight they were surprised. They couldn't believe I risked my career for a man.'_ "Excuse me," she murmured as she left the group standing uncomfortably on the balcony.

Rachel was aware of them watching her as she approached Jacob, she smiled to herself knowing they were wondering if she was going to tell him about their catty remarks. She deliberately pitched her voice higher so they could hear. "I'm going to up to our room." Cupping his face in her hands, she pulled his head down for a long kiss. Just as Jacob's arms came up to hold her, she broke off the kiss. "Night, baby," she purred, running her finger down his chest. "Don't keep me waiting." She turned to Charlotte who was standing next to Jacob. "Good-night Charlotte." Impulsively she leaned in to kiss the older woman's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rachel sat on the sofa of their suite, comfortable in a pair of satin pajamas, legs folded underneath her, surrounded by file folders. It wasn't fatigue that drove her to the suite without Jacob; she had an appointment to talk to Felix. He had been checking out Terrance's hunch about a competitor. It turned out there were some other people working on a genetically modified tomato; it opened up some new possibilities. For her part, she was filling him in on her impressions of the local suspects.

She finished up with, "I think you need to dig deeper into Sumner and Hopkins. Especially check and see if there's any link at all between them and the other researchers."

"Ok," Felix was curious, "I know we originally pegged them as the likely suspects, but do you think it's gonna turn out to be that obvious?"

"It's a gut thing …," Rachel said slowly recalling the Miriam's spiteful comments and how Richard enjoyed rubbing the fact of her pregnancy and its timing in Miriam's face. "I don't know, they're both kinda … I don't know … bitter? The others seem pretty content with their lives; happy people don't sabotage their friend's work."

"Got it," Felix was nodding in agreement. "You're right, it takes a special kind of nasty to do this to someone you've known as long as these people have known Dr. Heilman" He confirmed the time of their next phone call and said goodbye.

Rachel was gathering up the folders when Jacob and Terrance entered the suite. Leaning over the back of the sofa, Jacob dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting," he said with a smile.

Rachel grinned. "You're right on time, I just finished talking to Felix." She gave him a level look, "why don't you get ready for bed while I fill Terrance in on what Felix and I discussed."

Jacob nodded reluctantly, as much as he hated being shut out, he hated the idea of hearing about his friends' personal problems even more. Rachel waited until the door to their bedroom closed before she turned to Terrance. Waving him to a chair, she pushed her glasses up on her nose and frowned at the notes she had scribbled as she and Felix talked.

Dropping into a chair opposite her, Terrance loosened his tie with a sigh of relief. "Did Felix find anything interesting ma'am?"

Rachel scrunched up her nose, "Yes and no. Deep background checks didn't turn up much more on the group. The only thing of note is that Sumner is deeper in debt than we thought."

Terrance sat up a bit at this, "gambling maybe?"

Rachel shrugged, "maybe, I've asked Felix to dig into it. You did give us a good lead though, it turns out there are a couple of others working a modified tomato; Felix is going to check their backgrounds, see if there's any link between them and anyone local." Glancing at the closed bedroom door, she lowered her voice, "I asked him to see if there were any links between them and this group."

Terrance looked pleased; his hunch might turn out to be the correct solution to this case. "I've got a couple more names he can check, Gary Posey and Bill Parrish." At Rachel's quizzical look he explained, "Posey is Christina Kuntz's boyfriend. From what she let drop Dr. Heilman doesn't care for him."

"Really? How did you find that out?"

Terrance grinned. "She told me. I asked her about grabbing a nightcap after I got Dr. Hood tucked in for the night and she kind of got flustered, said she had to meet her boyfriend. When I acted surprised he wasn't invited to the dinner she got _really_ flustered, said he and Dr. Heilman didn't see eye-to-eye."

Rachel nodded in agreement, Posey definitely needed to be checked out. "What about Parrish? I thought Jacob and Arthur vouched for him?"

He rubbed his hands over his face, "Parrish, I don't know ... he feels wrong to me. He's a lot older than I though he would be. I mean, when Dr. Heilman said he was his lab tech, I figured he must be some kind of grad student. But he looks almost as old as Dr. Hood."

Rachel bit back a smile, wondering how Jacob would react to that description. "So? What's his age got to do with anything?"

"Whose age?" Jacob asked sitting down beside Rachel.

"Bill Parrish's age. Terrance wasn't expecting someone so... mature."

"I thought the people who worked in the labs were all grad students, it surprised me to find someone his age still working there," Terrance defended himself. "I mean, it that normal?" he asked doubtfully.

"It's not unusual," Jacob explained. "There are lots of Bills around. Scientists who love the science, the lab work, but don't want to teach or do the scholarship. Bill's worked for Arthur for close to 30 years now; he started as a grad student but never finished his PhD." Jacob shrugged, "some people like the continuity it brings to their labs since grad students come and go. It's a hard life though, knowing your job depends on someone else getting funding."

"Wait," Rachel was puzzled. "You mean this Bill guy, he doesn't work for Harvard?"

Jacob shook his hear, "no, when I said he works for Arthur, I meant that literally. Bill's salary is a line item in Arthur's grant funding." He looked at Rachel and Terrance shaking his head, "I can't believe Bill would sabotage Arthur's work, he's devoted to him."

"Maybe," Rachel said, "but we'll still ask Felix to check him and this Posey guy out."

"Who's Posey?" Jacob asked.

"Christina's boyfriend," Terrance said. "Apparently he and Dr. Heilman don't get along. Maybe he's convinced Christina to do the dirty work for him." He paused thoughtfully, "We're supposed to go tour Heilman's lab tomorrow before the symposium begins, I'll check out how secure that place really is. And," he added, "Exactly what kind of access those people have."

He got up and stretched, "I'll say goodnight now."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jacob waited until Terrance closed the door to his room before he pulled Rachel into his arms. "So what happened out on the balcony? After you left Hanna made some vague kind of apology, said some of the group were being _silly._ " Was someone rude to you?"

Rachel shrugged, "let's see, Richard told them he thought I was a nice piece of ass and Miriam said I was a bimbo who trapped you into marriage."

Jacob's lips tightened. "That's a hell of lot worse than silliness. I'll let them both know tomorrow they owe you an apology. A real apology."

Rachel shook her head, "No, it will only call attention to me and make our job harder." She giggled a bit. "Besides, I told them my friends couldn't understand our marriage either."

"What?"

"That's how the whole thing started, with Miriam complaining about me. She didn't know what you saw in me. After pointing out I'm a nice piece of ass, Richard told everyone he overhead you telling Charlotte I was pregnant. That's when Miriam called me a bimbo, that I got myself knocked up on purpose to trap you." Rachel added, her voice getting a little tight, "She said it was the only thing that made any sense since I'm nothing like Maggie."

"No," he said softly, "you're nothing like Maggie and I thank my lucky stars for that fact every single day."

Rachel pulled away and looked at him in shock. He smiled ruefully, "I know, you thought I was grief-stricken over Maggie's death for so long and I, I didn't see the need to disillusion you." His lips twitched into a half-smile. "Well, that and the fact it's still painful for me to think, to talk about my marriage to her."

"Jacob," Rachel protested, "you don't need…."

Jacob put his fingers over her lips. "No, you need to hear this. Maybe it's time for me to lay this ghost to rest."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

They met at the beginning of the school year; Cal Rigdon introduced them at the opening colloquy. They began dating and by winter break they were engaged. The wedding was held in June. Not for any romantic associations the month might have; June marked the end of spring semester grading period. It was convenient.

They didn't have a honeymoon, instead Maggie headed off to the Amazon. Cal begged her to fill in for the summer on his research team. The immunologist he had lined up bowed out due to a family emergency. Jacob had a summer research stipend so he couldn't accompany her.

A few months into the fall semester, Maggie received an offer to visit at Harvard's medical school for the spring semester. When Jacob objected she called him selfish. She pointed out that, unlike him, she hadn't been hired with tenure. She had to do whatever it took to accomplish her goal.

Jacob was invited to deliver a series of lectures at the Sorbonne in June. He suggested Maggie come with him; spending their first anniversary in Paris would make up for the lack of a honeymoon. She was agreeable but pulled out of the trip at the last minute. The journal that accepted her most recent article was demanding significant revisions and they had given her a tight deadline. She felt her work took priority.

That set the pattern for their lives. Before long, Jacob was also accepting invitations to speak at conferences and symposia and visiting at other schools. He even did some consulting work for his old college friend, Frank Fuller. At first he tried to time his absences to coincide with Maggie's but he discovered his travel schedule was a matter of indifference to her. Her philosophy was that if an opportunity was good for either of their careers it would be foolish to pass it up. Outwardly they were the perfect academic couple. Both well-regarded scholars in their fields, both popular teachers, both sought after speakers.

After a few years Jacob grew disillusioned. He shared his unhappiness with Maggie. They didn't seem to be building a life together; with every passing year they were drifting further and further apart. He hadn't expected to feel so alone in his marriage. Family was important to him; he always assumed they would have children. He began to press Maggie to agree it was time to settle down, start a family. She refused to even consider the notion of having a child until she was granted tenure. She had seen too many women's tenure bids become derailed when they sought to have the clock stopped because of childbirth. She was adamant; she wouldn't do anything that might hurt her chances of being tenured on schedule.

Right before their seventh anniversary Maggie achieved her goal; she was awarded tenure and a promotion to full professor at the Stanford medical school. Jacob bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Over dinner he proposed a toast, not only to her academic achievement but also to what he thought it would mean to their lives; to the start of their family.

To his dismay, Maggie demurred. She couldn't see the hurry, she worked hard to accomplish her goals; now she wanted some time to relax and enjoy herself. The celebration turned into a quarrel and Maggie stormed off to bed. Jacob finished off the bottle wondering if he was drinking to the end of his marriage. The morning brought a rapprochement but the subject of children was not raised again.

When, a few months later, Maggie began to feel nauseous and dizzy Jacob was secretly thrilled. He thought Maggie relented, decided to go ahead and surprise him with a pregnancy. Her appalled look when he tentatively offered that explanation for her discomfort dashed his hopes. When the dizziness and the nausea didn't let up she went to her doctor for a check-up.

The results stunned them. The doctors discovered a glioblastoma multiforme grade four tumor. Its size and location made surgery impossible; her life expectancy was put at months. The doctors recommended palliative care. Maggie had other ideas; she insisted on pursuing an aggressive course of treatment even though she knew it would have no effect on the ultimate outcome.

Ironically, her death sentence gave Jacob the marriage he craved. They became closer than they had been in the previous seven years. Together they explored options, followed up on new reports in the literature, called in favors from friends who worked in the field.

Their new-found closeness extended beyond fighting the cancer. Maggie soon realized the truth in the old adage " _no one on their death bed ever looked back and wished they had spent more time at the office_." She wanted to live before she died. They went on picnics, short trips, and entertained friends. When her strength failed, Jacob nursed her devotedly. The whole time, while his rationale mind knew the situation was hopeless, he kept looking for any sign of improvement in her condition. He desperately wanted to keep the wife he had just found.

When she died, Jacob didn't grieve for her. He had come to terms with her illness and eventual death in the eighteen months they had fought her tumor. Instead, he grieved for the marriage that should have been. The one they could have had if they had paid more attention to each other and less to their respective careers.

The night before her memorial service Jacob couldn't sleep and was passing the time packing up her things. He found her journal; he hadn't been aware she kept one. He hesitated for a moment. Even though she was dead it would still be an invasion of her privacy to read it but he was missing her so badly he couldn't resist.

Opening the book at random he found the entry where she confided how excited she had been to meet him. His smile dimmed when further reading revealed her excitement was due primarily to his academic accomplishments. His main attractions in her eyes were his Nobel nomination and Waterman award. When he proposed she had seen this as the perfect union of the personal and the professional.

Further reading revealed that Maggie was equally frustrated with their marriage. Her frustration, however, was due to him. The only child of an unhappy marriage, she couldn't understand Jacob's desire for a family. She was exasperated that he couldn't see how good their lives were; they had the money and the freedom to do as they pleased. Maggie didn't see the point in complicating their lives with children.

Even worse, she wrote that she didn't want to be honest with him about her feelings because she was afraid he would leave her. Not that she was desperately in love with him; she enjoyed Jacob's company and the prestige of being the wife of a world renowned biophysicist.

Jacob was dumbfounded by what he read. He had no idea Maggie felt that way. That she had considered them colleagues who happened to be married. It shook him to the core to think he could have lived with someone for over eight years and known them so little. It made him doubt his judgment profoundly.

The next day Jacob found he couldn't speak when their colleagues and friends came up to offer condolences. He didn't know what to say to their well-meaning platitudes when he had Maggie's own admission of how unhappy he made her. It was three months before he was able to come to come out of the depression his discovery caused.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"So yeah, you're nothing like Maggie," Jacob concluded, hugging her tighter, "I'm pretty damned sure your attraction to me has nothing to do with my work."

Rachel lay silently in his arms, absorbing the story he told. She gave a small snort, "considering I sometimes have no idea what you're talking about, no, you being a hot-shot scientist isn't your primary attraction."

"Why Special Agent Young, are you saying you love me for my body not my brains?" Jacob teased.

"Not to mention your pretty face Dr. Hood." Rachel sniggered, "Even my father wondered if I married you 'cause you were good in bed." She laughed harder at the look on Jacob's face. "Don't worry, I didn't confirm or deny his suspicion." She sobered up, "but I was telling your friends the truth, _my_ friends were surprised when I told then about us. Not because you're a science geek and I'm well, I'm me. They couldn't believe I'd risk my career for a guy." She kissed him on the cheek, "That's how they knew I really loved you."

Jacob nuzzled the top of her head, his hand sliding under the top of her pajamas. "So you're totally indifferent to my scientific expertise?"

"Not exactly," Rachel gave a sigh of pleasure and her back arched as his hand cupped, squeezed her breast. "Ummm, I do admire your knowledge of anatomy."

Jacob dropped back on the sofa, pulling Rachel along side of him. "To say nothing of my command of human physiology." He hand went down the front of her pajama bottoms, stroking her groin, his fingers teasing her clit. "Like knowing what happens if I do this."

Rachel shuddered, turning her head into Jacob's neck, kissing and biting him. "Oh fucking hell, baby, yes, that feels so good. Ya know, I'm a physiology expert too. I know what happens when I do this" She reached into Jacob's pants and squeezed his cock.

Jacob sucked in his breath, "obviously you're not as ignorant of science as you claim."

They continued stroking, kissing, and teasing each other, their nightclothes slowly dropping to the floor. Finally, as Jacob entered her, Rachel let out a shriek that was only partly muffled by her face being pressed against his shoulder.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Terrance was drowsing when a woman's cry jerked him awake. He was halfway out of bed, weapon in hand, when his brain caught up with his ears. A husky male groan from the next room allowed him to definitely identify the sounds that had disturbed his sleep. Putting his weapon back on the nightstand, he thanked god he hadn't gone charging out the door. He didn't know who would be more embarrassed, him, Dr. Hood, or SAC Young. _'Nah,'_ he thought as he settled back into his bed, _'SAC Young would have been pissed, not embarrassed.'_ His final thought as he drifted back to sleep was a fervent hope that SAC Young wouldn't be accompanying them on too many cases.


	3. Chapter 3

Breakfast the next morning was a hurried affair. Jacob was anxious to check out Arthur's lab. They were about to leave when Rachel's cell phone buzzed; it was Naomi.

"What is it Naomi," Rachel asked impatiently. "I thought I made it clear Mike would handle anything that came up for the next few days."

"Unless it was something _important_ ," Naomi answered tartly. "You also made it clear this trip wasn't a vacation and if something important came up I was to call you. If you've changed your mind, I can fill in Agent Webster …"

"So what's so important," Rachel cut in.

"Is it was important that someone wants to blow up the Capitol…."

"We've had a new threat? When did this come in?" Rachel asked.

Naomi backtracked, "uh, it's not new, exactly. I had a call for you from Boston…"

"About the UC op we're running up here?" Rachel was puzzled. The undercover operation had been in place for months, as far as she knew it wasn't urgent. A sudden fear arose, "Oh shit, has it gone south?"

"I don't think so," Naomi said, "The SAC of the Boston office called for you. He said since you're in town he'd like to update you on the operation and get authorization for a payment. I thought," She added virtuously, "you'd want to discuss the matter with him."

Rachel gritted her teeth and counted to ten. Trust Naomi to take so long to get to the essential part of the message. "Fine, I'll handle this, I'll let you know what, if anything, needs to be done on your end." She gritted her teeth and counted to ten again when Naomi hung up without acknowledging her.

Sighing, Rachel slid her cell phone back into her purse. "Jacob, I'm going to have to go to the Boston field office. I don't have access to a secure line."

Jacob raised his eyebrows wondering what type of "op" Rachel's people were involved in. "Fine, I'll tell Arthur and Charlotte you're suffering from a bout of morning sickness and can't come to the lab."

"No," Rachel said, "don't tell them that. Why don't you tell them I decided to go shopping?"

"Shopping? Why?"

"Two reasons. If anyone sees me leaving the hotel, they won't be suspicious." She grinned, "Plus, it will add to my empty-headed bimbo persona."

Jacob laughed and Terrance snorted; both thinking anyone who dismissed her as an empty headed bimbo had quite a shock coming. Jacob kissed Rachel good-bye and confirmed they would meet up at the symposium in the afternoon.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Terrance looked around with interest. Dr. Heilman's lab wasn't what he expected. Since the doctor was working on a hybrid tomato Terrance thought the lab would more resemble a greenhouse. Instead it was a cross between a lab like Dr. Hood's in the Hoover Building and a greenhouse. There were just as many test tubes and beakers as there were grow lights and flats of seedlings.

He paid cursory attention to the explanations Dr. Heilman was giving; he figured if any of it was important Dr. Hood would do a better job of making sure he understood what was going on. Instead, he directed his attention to the people in the lab trying to see how familiar, how comfortable they felt in the space. He figured anyone who was coming in to sabotage Dr. Heilman's work must know their way around the space pretty well. He was pleased when Miriam Hopkins and Richard Sumner joined the expedition to the lab. They were the prime suspects and he was glad of the opportunity to observe their behavior closely.

He was inclined to rule out Sumner. The man showed only a superficial interest in the work. More tellingly, he made a wrong turn when they exited the elevator; he was halfway down the corridor before he was called back. What he did show interest in was Christina. Remembering Felix's discovery about his background, Terrance thought she accounted for Sumner's visits to the lab over the last few months. The fact the woman didn't give him any encouragement didn't seem to faze him. Terrance frowned; in fact, Sumner seemed to enjoy the way his attentions disconcerted Christina.

Giving a small shake of his head, he considered Hopkins. He gave a small huff of exasperation. She was just as bad as Sumner in his opinion. She hadn't bothered to conceal her distain upon being told SAC Young had decided to forego the lab tour in favor of a shopping expedition. Then she kept pawing at Dr. Hood even though he was casually brushing off her attentions. He narrowed his eyes, she also seemed very familiar with the lab and the work Dr. Heilman was doing. She kept interrupting Bill Parrish as he tried to explain the work to Dr. Hood.

This thought brought his full attention to Parrish. The man continued to puzzle him. ' _Maybe I'm too used to the hierarchy of the FBI_.' He expected Parrish would take a back seat during the tour. Instead, he welcomed them to the lab almost as if it were his own. His reaction to Dr. Hopkins was also a bit off. Dr. Heilman seemed more amused than annoyed at the way she was acting; Parrish was visibly annoyed. He wondered if all lab techs were so proprietary.

He was inclined to dismiss Christina as a suspect even though Felix hadn't gotten back to him about the boyfriend. It was clear she had a great deal of respect for her mentor. If she had been talked into sabotaging the lab he figured she would feel pretty guilty. She wasn't acting like someone with a guilty conscience. Instead of being concerned the FBI's Special Science Advisor was poking around, she seemed star-struck. She blushed and stammered whenever Dr. Hood addressed her. Remembering the rather spectacular public display of affection SAC Young had treated the group to the previous night, Terrance suppressed a grin; he wondered how she'd react to the sight of the two women fawning over her husband. He snapped to attention it became clear the tour was over and the group was about to leave for the symposium.

Jacob was shaking Bill Parrish's had. "Thanks for the tour, the work you and Arthur are doing here is ground-breaking. I'm looking forward to seeing your results."

Parrish thanked Jacob rather abruptly and added that he wasn't sure how quickly results would be forthcoming. "It's why I'm not coming to the symposium," he added. "I need to attend to work here."

Jacob's face showed his surprise but before he could say anything Arthur began to shoo everyone from the lab. "If we don't leave now we'll be late."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"I can't believe you're kissing that woman's ass," Special Agent Warren Zarin said in disgust.

"I'm not kissing anyone's ass," his superior, SAC Jason Billings replied with more than a hint of exasperation. "It's good politics, that's all. Since the SAC for Counter-Terrorism is in town it makes sense to have her review the op, give the final go-ahead on the funding."

"I see," Zarin jeered, "instead of kissing ass, you're covering your ass in case something goes wrong. But nothing's going to go wrong. I've got all my bases covered." He scoffed, "we don't need some desk jockey poking her nose into our business."

A knock on the door cut short Zarin's grousing. Billings stood and extended his hand, "SAC Young, welcome to Boston. I hope you don't mind my pulling you away from your op."

Zarin's eyebrows rose as her took in the long blonde curls, delicate features, a pink and green wrap dress that revealed a curvy figure, and white patent leather high heeled peep toe pumps showing toenails sporting the same pearly pink polish as her fingernails. He smirked and murmured to his boss, "قد يجدر أن الحمار التقبيل بعد كل شيء" ( _That ass might be worth kissing after all)._

Ignoring Billings' sudden pained look, Rachel smiled and held out her hand. "Not at all. It doesn't look as if it's shaping up to be a case for my office. Unless my people or the Special Science Advisor's man in DC comes up with something today, it looks personal. None of our suspects has any links to eco-terrorists."

She looked pointedly at Zarin, who Billings hastily introduced. Zarin acknowledged the introduction with a nod and didn't offer his hand. He hung back as Billings and Rachel took seats and began a general discussion of the operation.

"You're sure he won't be able to claim entrapment?" Rachel wanted to know.

"Abso-fuking-lutely not." Zarin butted in. "I told him I was having second thoughts and got him on tape convincing _me_ we have to go through with the bombing." He grinned maliciously holding up a small tape player, "want to hear it?" At Rachel's nod he pressed a button and the guttural sounds of Arabic filled the office.

Billings flushed in annoyance. "Here," he offered Rachel a folder, "this is a copy of the translation."

Rachel waved it away, "That's ok." She smiled sweetly at Zarin, "yes, we shouldn't have any trouble. But you took a big risk there, didn't you?"

Zarin looked uncomfortable, "Uh, no, why?"

Rachel cocked an eyebrow, "I had a dream? Really? You quoted Martin Luther King? What if he recognized the speech? Realized you were playing him for a fool?" She added softly, "Ya know, Zarin, you really shouldn't make assumptions about what people do or don't know." She stood up and prepared to leave. "You seem to have everything well in hand here, let me sign the requisition and I'll be on my way."

Before leaving the office Rachel dug into her bag to find her card and a pen. She scribbled on the back and handed it to Zarin, "I want to be kept apprised of this op. You can funnel your information through Agent Mason, he's the Special Science Advisor's handler."

"Uh, yes ma'am" he gulped.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Terrance excused himself from the lunch table as he felt the vibration of his cell phone in his jacket pocket. He smiled in satisfaction when he saw Felix's name on the display. "Hey, Felix, what's up? Find anything interesting?"

"Lots of stuff," Felix said, "but how's it going up there? You enjoying the symphony? Able to understand more than one word in five?"

"It's a symposium," Terrance rolled his eyes, "and it's not that bad. Mostly the people are talking about how Dr. Heilman affected their work." His curiosity got the better of him, "Did you and Dr. Hood really investigate some mad scientist who was performing illegal human cloning experiments?"

"Before my time. You'll have to ask SAC Young," Felix dismissed the story. He chuckled, "But I _was_ with the team when we investigated a super love potion. You should ask her about that one."

Terrance snorted, "Yeah right. So, what do you have for me? Anything interesting?"

"Sumner's not a gambler. Turns out he's in debt from paying off his student. That's why he was able to get another job so easy when his university fired him. He paid off the student he was dating so she wouldn't cause a fuss or anything. Plus, I can't find any money coming in to his accounts. Just his salary. I don't think he's our guy."

"Yeah, I agree, Sumner's out of it. He doesn't seem to know his way around the lab. I think his recent visits have more to do with Dr. Heilman's student Christina than anything else. What about the others?"

"I don't have anything more on Hopkins or Parrish, but I can sure see why Dr. Heilman doesn't like this Posey guy."

"Oh?"

"Guy's a real mooch. Plus he's got a ton of student loan debt."

"Big deal," Terrance interrupted, "I've got a ton of student loan debt too."

"You went to law school," Felix said. "You got a degree _and_ a job out of it. This guy Posey? He's been in and out of three grad programs without finishing anything. He sounds like a professional student to me. Like I said, a mooch. I've checked his finances. He's got a part-time job that pays squat. That and a check from his folks every once in a while are his only sources of income. It looks to me like this Christina is his major source of support. They live together and from what I've pieced together she's the one paying all the bills."

"That should eliminate him from our list of suspects then" Terrance shrugged, "if he's depending on Christina for support he sure as hell wouldn't jeopardize it by talking her into sabotaging the lab." Terrance looked up, the lunch crowd was beginning to break up, people were returning to the room where the symposium was taking place. "I gotta go Felix, look extra hard at Hopkins, I can see her doing this. Bye."

Pocketing his phone, Terrance rejoined Dr. Hood. At Dr. Hood's raised eyebrows, he shook his head, "Felix."

Jacob looked disappointed. "I thought it might be Rachel." He looked at his watch, "I wonder what's keeping her? I hoped she be here in time to hear my presentation."

Miriam gave a huff of irritation. "Honestly Jacob, you really expected her to show? I'm sure she would have been bored out of her mind." She smirked, "even your presentation would have been over her head. I doubt she could understand the science involved."

Jacob looked at Miriam and bit his lip. He was seriously tempted to tell her that not only did Rachel grasp what was going on, she was instrumental in tracking down and arresting Miranda Cochran. Luckily, he was prevented from uttering an indiscretion by Rachel's sudden appearance at this side.

Ignoring Miriam, Rachel kissed Jacob on the cheek. "I'm sorry I missed your talk baby, but I lost track of time." She held out a shopping bag carrying the logo of a high end lingerie store and winked. "I think you'll forgive me though."

Jacob gave a small laugh and hugged her. "We'll see." Standing with Jacob's arm around her Rachel finally deigned to notice Miriam who was scowling at her. "Oh, hello Miriam, I didn't see you there. Did you enjoy the tour of Arthur's lab?"

Miriam sniffed her disapproval. "I hardly needed a tour, I'm very familiar with _Dr. Heilman's_ lab." She then proceeded to surprise Jacob, Rachel, and Terrance by launching into a detailed critique of the lab, how it was run, and Arthur's current experiments. She finished her assessment saying "I only hope Arthur has the sense to announce his impending retirement at the end of the symposium. It's long overdue."

"How ... interesting," Rachel murmured with a lift of her eyebrow. She and Terrance exchanged glances. Unbeknownst to her, Miriam has just moved to the top of the suspect list.

As they filed into the auditorium for the afternoon session Terrance took the opportunity to whisper to Rachel, "I've asked Felix to take an extra hard look at her." Rachel nodded her agreement.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As the afternoon wore on Terrance and Rachel both became increasingly thoughtful. For her part, Rachel was impressed with the genuine affection the speakers had for their old teacher. She hadn't been particularly close to any of her teachers; most of them had been discomforted by her goal of joining the Bureau. She wondered if Jacob regretted his decision to leave academia; she could easily imagine his former students putting on a symposium like this to honor him.

Terrance's thoughts were more practical. On a day devoted to honoring Dr. Heilman, he pondered the odd behavior of two members of what could only be termed his inner circle. It was slowly becoming clear to him that while Dr. Heilman had influenced many students over the years, none of them were as close to him as the members of what Dr. Hood called "the group." Yet none of the speakers had breathed even a hint of criticism of him or his work, unlike Miriam. During her presentation she had obliquely criticized his refusal to involve himself in what she termed "matters of importance to the academy." From the muffled snickers in the audience he figured she meant his refusal to support her latest crusade.

Then there was Bill Parrish's absence. At first blush Terrance hadn't questioned his decision to stay behind; the sabotage put the work was behind schedule. But as speaker after speaker was introduced it became painfully obvious to him some pretty important people put their own work on hold to honor Dr. Heilman. He couldn't help but wonder why a man who had worked closely with Dr. Heilman for thirty years couldn't spare even an afternoon to pay him tribute.

The afternoon session ended and they made their way back to the hotel. Terrance was trying to keep track of Dr. Hood in the swirling crowd that gathered for drinks in the reception room. When he felt his cell phone buzz he caught SAC Young's eye; it was Felix and he needed to take this call. She nodded imperceptibly, she was more than willing to take over guard duties temporarily.

"What do you have for me?" Terrance asked. "Anything good?"

"I think you'll like this," Felix replied. "That guy Parrish? He's been getting money, a lot of it."

"Really? How much?"

"In the last year, about a million bucks."

Terrance silently whistled. "How did this not come up in your initial check? That's a hell of a lot of money."

""Cause he's hiding it." Felix explained. "I checked his bank of record and there wasn't anything hincky there. Then I decided to dig a little deeper, run his social instead of his name and found a suspicious activity report a small bank in Boston filed on him. He opened up the account using his middle name, Vance. According to the report, he opened an account to deposit 100K even though he already had an account with them. And guess how much was in that account?" Felix didn't give Terrance time to answer, "That's right, 100K. So I threw out a wider net, went back and ran the name Vance Parrish. Seems our boy has opened ten accounts in the last year, in nine small regional banks."

"What's the money doing? Just sitting there?"

"Nope, it's moving around, I'm running checks on his spending habits now. But even there, he's being pretty cagey, hiding his transactions."

"Where is he getting it? Did you find out who wrote the checks?"

"Yeah, it's a white shoe law firm in Boston, Twine and Gray." Felix said, "As for how he's getting it, I had a peek at his latest tax return. He got three of the checks last year, he declared it as gambling income. But I checked into it and I couldn't find any record of him going to any casinos or racetracks or anything like that."

"That's nothing," Terrance argued. "He could have won a lottery or maybe it's an illegal game somewhere right here in Boston. Or," he said thoughtfully, "he could be gambling online under a fake name."

"Maybe," Felix conceded, "but why would he be funneling the money through the law firm?"

"I guess I'll have to ask them." Terrance was silent for a minute. "Felix, can you check something out for me? The law firm handing over the checks? Do they have any connection to the other tomato developers?"

"Good idea," Felix grunted. "I'll get on it right away."

Terrance grimaced as Miriam's laugh cut through the noise of the crowd. He was developing a severe dislike for the woman. "What about Hopkins? Dig up anything on her?"

"I don't think she's the one," Felix said. "I mean ..." he trailed off.

"What? What did you find?"

"It's just she's, well, she's kind of a non-entity. I couldn't find all that much about her so I decided to pull her resume from her website at Princeton. I compared it to the Doc's and a couple of the other people in that group of his." Felix paused, "ya know? I think we underestimate the Doc. I mean, he's kind of a rock star in that world."

Terrance grunted in agreement, he had been amazed at the number of people at the dinner last night, at the reception this afternoon who had wanted to talk to Dr. Hood.

"Hopkins on the other hand, she hasn't got half the publications or awards or anything that the Doc and the others have and they all started out at the same time. I even checked ratemyprofessordotcom, wondered if maybe she was a whiz in the classroom. She didn't get that good of reviews." He chuckled suddenly, "don't tell SAC Young but I looked up the Doc too, he got more than a few "chili peppers" in his ratings."

"Chili peppers?"

Felix snickered. "Yeah, means his students thought he was hot." He sobered up, "I think Parrish is our man, the money trail is pretty damning. Hopkins, she's nothing."

"Maybe," Terrance was stubborn. "But I think what you found out about Hopkins gives her a motive. I mean it." he insisted when Felix gave a snort of disbelief. "Think about it, she's the dud of the group, maybe she blames Dr. Heilman for not giving her career a bigger boost. Whoever's doing this shit is either has a personal grudge or is doing it for money and she's the kinda person to carry a grudge."

"It that's true, you're gonna have to catch her red-handed. And that means setting up a sting with the Doc's cooperation. You're gonna have to have more than a hunch to get him to go along."

"I know." Terrance sighed. "Let me know what you find out about the law firm." He pocketed his phone and went to find Dr. and Mrs. Hood.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When the evening's activities were finally over, Terrance was able to update Dr. Hood on Felix's findings and his own observations about Parrish and Hopkins.

Jacob shook his head doubtfully. "I don't know, Bill has been with Arthur for years. It's almost inconceivable that he'd betray him like that." He shook his head, "and yes, Miriam has always been ...difficult, but this! I don't know."

"Inconceivable isn't impossible," Terrance countered. "Even you have to admit both of them are acting pretty strange." He pressed the issue at Jacob's look of reluctance. "Parrish has been with Dr. Heilman for years, so that means he knows a lot of the people speaking, right? So why is he staying away? He barely made it to the dinner last night and he left as soon as he could. Then, he didn't show up for anything today, not the symposium, the lunch, or the dinner. And the money thing is pretty damning."

"You said it yourself, he could be gambling. I can see where he's keep that quiet, especially if it was illegal gambling. Arthur's pretty straight-laced, he wouldn't approve of Bill being involved in something like that. As for Miriam …"

"She went out of her way this morning to criticize Dr. Heilman's running of the lab." Terrance made a huff of contempt. "And she was the only speaker today who said she had problems with his way of doing business."

Jacob was about to protest when Terrance's cell phone chirped, signaling an incoming email. Terrance's eyebrows rose at what he read.

"It's from Felix," he said, "The money trail is weird. Felix is still tracking things, but all of his purchases seem to run through straw-men. Parrish is making damned sure it isn't easy for anyone to see where his money is coming from or where it's going. The only thing Parrish bought in his own name is a house on a couple of acres in the 'burbs."

"I don't think his buying a house is weird," Jacob said.

"He's not living there," Terrance replied. "I checked him out personally, he's renting a townhouse in Beacon Hill. This house is something different." He looked at Jacob doubtfully, "If it's ok with you sir, I'll let SAC Young, uh, Mrs. Hood, take over security for tomorrow, I'd like to check out the house as well as go talk to someone at the law firm."

To his surprise Jacob shook his head. "No need, I'll go with you. Not that I don't trust you," he added hastily, "something may come up where you need my expertise." He shrugged, "I don't think I'll be missed if I don't show up tomorrow." He nodded toward Rachel, "we can both join you in running down your leads."

Rachel noted the blank look on Terrance's face at Jacob's invitation to her. She sympathized with his dilemma, he didn't want to offend a senior agent, but he resented her interjecting herself into his investigation. Especially since it was now clear eco-terrorism has nothing to do with the case.

"Sorry, Jacob, I've got other plans for tomorrow. Charlotte invited me to lunch, plus, I want to borrow some space at the Boston office. I'd like to catch up with emails, check in with my people." She smiled to herself at the look of relief on Terrance's face. "You boys will have to do without me."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Looking around the plush office, Terrance was still trying to decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Dr. Hood was with him. When they arrived at the law firm he had flashed his credentials and asked to see Winston Stout, the lawyer who had signed all of the checks. The receptionist demurred, insisting they make an appointment. That was when Dr. Hood took charge. Using his charm and scientific double-talk he got them into Stout's office. Once in the office, though, he wasn't letting Terrance get a word in edge-wise. Despite Dr. Hood's persistent badgering, Stout was refusing to cooperate. What made it worse is the feeling Terrance got that Stout was enjoying this game of cat and mouse. His phone buzzed and when he saw it was Felix, he excused himself to take the call. What Felix had to say made his eyes widen.

"I'm sure you can understand, Dr. Hood," Stout was saying as he rejoined the two men, "Client confidentiality forbids my answering your questions." He spread his hands out, "I'm sorry, I can't help you."

Jacob gave a huff of impatience and prepared to rise from his chair. He stopped when Terrance put a hand on his arm. "May I ask you a question Mr. Stout?"

The lawyer smirked, but nodded his head.

"What do you remember from your class in legal ethics?"

Stout's face got red, "how dare you, you impudent..., how dare you accuse me..."

"I'm not accusing you of anything," Terrance said. He smiled reminiscently, "my advisor in law school, she had this theory that you only really remember one thing, one factoid from every class you take." He titled his head and looked at Stout, "and do you know the one thing _I_ remember from _my_ legal ethics class?" His voice hardened, " my professor always said if it comes down to you going to jail or the client going to jail, make sure it's the client who goes to jail."

Stout's mouth dropped open as Terrance continued, "I'm willing to bet your old buddy Herbert White didn't tell you those payments you were laundering for him were illegal." He cocked his head, "but trust me, any judge in the country will say you should have wondered and will hold you just as liable as him and Parrish for a conspiracy to defraud the government."

"Conspiracy?" sputtered Stout. "All I did was help out an old friend. He told me his client was an academic, said his colleagues would accuse of him of selling out if they knew he was getting money from Monroe Farms."

Jacob snorted in disgust. "Who the hell do you think is financing most of the agricultural research these days? Big agribusiness like Monroe. It's more likely his colleagues would be jealous."

"Regardless," Terrance cut in, "we can still charge you with conspiracy," he smiled at the look of horror on Stout's face, "unless, of course, you decide to cooperate," he finished smoothly.

With a defeated look on his face, Stout picked up his phone, "What do you need?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jacob flipped through the documents Stout gave them as Terrance navigated through the suburban maze. They were on their way to the house Parrish had purchased with the money from Monroe Farms.

"There's not much of interest in these, they only confirm that Monroe Farms has been funneling payments to Parrish for over a year now." He raised an eyebrow, "which obviously you already knew?"

Terrance grinned. "It was an educated guess. I asked Felix to dig into the firm, see if they had any connections to the firms working on a modified tomato. He found out that Stout was an old law school buddy of Monroe's outside counsel."

A smile flickered over Jacob's face. Yes, Terrance was a satisfactory replacement for Rachel. He pointed to a house at the end of the street. "That's the one."

Terrance pulled into the driveway and they both surveyed the house.

"Well, well, well," Jacob said softly. "I can see the attraction of this place."

Terrance nodded in agreement, they could see the roof of a greenhouse in the backyard. He gave a whistle of surprise when they entered the back yard and could see how large the greenhouse actually was. He and Dr. Hood were peering inside when his cell phone buzzed with an incoming call.

"Hey Felix, what's up?"

"I traced Parrish's purchases," Felix was triumphant.

"Yeah, he bought fertilizer, potting soil, and all kinds of gardening stuff, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Felix was disgruntled. "How'd you know?"

"I'm looking at it," Terrance explained. "We went to the house you found, he's got a big greenhouse set-up and it looks like it's stuffed full of plants." He spied a man rounding the corner of the house, "uh, Felix, I gotta go."

Sliding in front of Dr. Hood, Terrance began to reach for his credentials. To his annoyance, Dr. Hood, pushed past him.

"There you are," Jacob called cheerfully. He extended his hand, "I'm so looking forward…."

"I'm sorry." the man interrupted, "this is private property, you have to leave."

Jacob shook his head, tutting in annoyance, "I can't believe Bill forgot to tell you we were on our way. Honestly, how inconsiderate of him." Jacob smiled at the man, "I'm Dr. Jacob Hood, an old friend of Bill's. We were discussing his work this morning and he told me to come over for a tour." He raised his eyebrows, "I trust it won't be an inconvenience?"

At the mention of Jacob's name the man's eyes widened. "Oh, oh, Dr. Hood. No, Mr. Parrish didn't call." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and looking at it, his face registered dismay. "Oh shit, I forgot to charge it last night, its dead."

"No harm done," Jacob replied, He gestured to Terrance, "and let me introduce my colleague …" he trailed off suggestively.

Terrance picked up the hint. "Hi, I'm Terrance Mason." He stuck out his hand.

"Uh, Devin Whitlock," he replied.

"So Devin, how about that tour?" Jacob asked.

For the next hour Devin showed the pair around the greenhouse. Despite not understanding the finer points Terrance was impressed with the lush plants. They seemed to be growing unusually well. Dr. Hood requested a look at what he called the research notes, and from his pursed lips and questions, Terrance figured Dr. Hood was learning as much from them as he was from Devin's tour. Dr. Hood thanked Devin for the tour and settled into the front seat of their rental car, an abstracted look on his face.

"I guess this settles it," Terrance said. "Shall we arrest Parrish? Or do you want to talk to Dr. Heilman first?"

Jacob roused himself from his thoughts. "Um, I'm afraid it's not that easy. But you're right about one thing. We need to talk to both men. Now." He pulled out his cell phone and made a terse call to Dr. Heilman. He refused to give any details, he requested that both men meet him at Dr. Heilman's lab. He fell back into a reverie and Terrance couldn't get another word out of him for the rest of the ride back into the city.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dr. Heilman looked tense and unhappy as Jacob walked into the lab. Since getting Jacob's call he had been assuming the worst about his old friend and colleague. Parrish, for his part, looked a bit impatient, he was disgruntled at being called away from his work.

Jacob looked at both men sadly. He was afraid what happened next would mean the end of a friendship, a collaboration that lasted over thirty years. He sighed, "Bill, I think it's about time you explained to Arthur your relationship to Monroe Farms."

Arthur didn't give Parrish a chance to explain. "You, you, ingrate! How could you betray me like this? Sell me out, sabotage my work?"

Parrish reddened with anger. "You have the nerve to call me an ingrate! Talk about betrayal? How about what you're doing to me? I've worked my ass off for you and you, you decide to retire without even having the decency to tell me first? To wonder what the hell I'm going to do once you shut down your lab?"

Arthur looked at him in bewilderment, "Retire? What are you talking about? I'm not going to retire."

Bill stared back, equally bewildered, "But this symposium, I was led to believe it was your swan song..."

Jacob interrupted, "I think you're talking at cross purposes. Bill, I think you owe Arthur an explanation. Monroe Farms?"

Arthur remembered his grievance, "yeah, you've been selling me out..."

Jacob shook his head, "Arthur, please."

"I haven't sold you out," Parrish said angrily. "I was thinking of my own future, Monroe approached me over a year ago, wanted me to head up an new R&D project for them. They were generous, gave me pretty much what I wanted to set up a lab, a greenhouse, hire an assistant, the works."

"But why the secrecy?" Jacob asked.

Bill gave a sigh and pulled a letter from is pocket. "Because of this." He handed the letter to Arthur. "I've been carrying this around for almost a year. I, I didn't know how to do it, how to talk to you about this."

Arthur had torn open the envelope and was scanning the letter it held. "It's your resignation!"

Parrish nodded, "I didn't want to do anything openly until I officially resigned."

Arthur looked at his old friend in dismay, "I can understand you wanting your own lab, some security, but Bill, to try to sabotage my lab, to steal my work ..."

Jacob coughed, "um, actually Arthur, it's not your work Bill's been doing for Monroe. I took a look at his research notes, he's following an entirely different line."

"That's right," Parrish nodded vigorously. "I'm following the line I suggested last year," he looked at Arthur smugly, "the one _you_ dismissed as an obvious dead-end."

Arthur's jaw dropped, "you mean you _actually_ developed a tomato tree?"

Parrish nodded proudly, "yep, it ..." He trailed off, "wait, you thought _I_ was sabotaging your work." He nodded toward Jacob, "is that why he's here? To investigate?"

He snorted when Arthur nodded. "We're a pair of old fools. All of this trouble could have been avoided if we just talked to each other. I thought you knew who was monkeying around with stuff in the lab."

"If I knew," Arthur was indignant, "I wouldn't have called in the FBI." He paused, "do you mean _you_ know?"

Parrish nodded and reached for the laptop on the bench. "Yeah, after the seedlings were over-fertilized, I set a web cam. When I saw who it was, I figured you knew but didn't want to cause a fuss for old times' sake."

As he spoke, he cued up the video he had taken of the lab. Arthur's closed his eyes and swore softly as he watched Miriam Hopkins carefully deposit cutworms on a tray of seedlings. "What in the hell is that girl thinking?"

"I don't know what she's thinking, but what she's doing is felony destruction of federal property," Terrance said.

"What? A felony?" Arthur sputtered. "I don't think we need to go down that road."

"I'm sorry Arthur," Jacob said, "But we may have to." He shrugged, "it's the price you pay for bringing me and the others in on this." He exchanged a glace with Terrance, "we'll see what Miriam has to say for herself."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The arrived just as the symposium ended. Charlotte, Rachel and the others gathered around them.

"Arthur," Charlotte scolded, "where did you disappear to? The dean was fit to be tied, you missed his presentation."

"You really need to apologize to him," Miriam butted in, "you may be near the end of your career but you should still pay attention to department politics."

This was too much for Arthur. "Damnit Miriam, I may be old, but I'm not doddering and I'm not ready to be put out to pasture quite yet." He glared at her. "So what's with you telling people I'm on my way out? And what's with you sabotaging my work? What were you trying to do? Convince everyone I'm past it? That I can't hack lab work anymore?"

Miriam turned bright red as the others turned to her with astonished faces. "I, I, don't know what you're talking about."

Jacob looked around uneasily as interested faces turned to see what the commotion was about. Taking both Arthur and Miriam by the arm he hustled them back into an empty seminar room with Terrance in his wake. After a moment's shocked surprise, the others followed them in. They entered to hear Jacob confronting Miriam.

"Miriam," Jacob said, "We've talked to Bill, seen the video of you with the cutworms. He told us that you've ..."

"I never said Arthur was retiring!" She deflated at the look of skepticism on the faces around her. "Ok, maybe I hinted a bit." She tried to defend herself, "but honestly, we've all talked about it, wondered when Arthur was going to retire. I was, just, I was only kind of hinting to Bill that maybe he should talk to Arthur about it."

Terrance broke in impatiently. "I'm sorry, but the real problem is your sabotage of Dr. Heilman's work. You do realize your actions constitute a destruction of federal property?"

"What! That's absurd," Miriam said. "I only ... "

"Dr. Heilman's work is funded by the federal government and all of the results of that work are the property of the federal government," Terrance cut in relentlessly, "any interference with that work is considered a felony."

"But, but," Miriam gaped. "I never meant..." She burst into tears.

Arthur and Jacob's eyes met over Miriam's head. Arthur's were pleading; Jacob after a moment's thought, nodded his head.

Jacob awkwardly patted Miriam on the shoulder. "It's all right, no one's going to be arresting you."

Terrance opened his mouth to protest but he felt a kick to his ankle. Surprised he looked at SAC Young, who was standing beside him. She flashed a quick smile of apology and titled her head toward Jacob and gave a slight shrug. Her meaning was clear, if the Special Science Advisor to the FBI felt no charges were warranted, then well, no arrest would be made.

"But what on earth were you thinking," Jacob continued. "Arthur has never been anything but kind to you."

"To damned kind," snapped Stan. "I mean it Miriam, you've done some damn fool things over the years but this, this takes the cake. How could you do this to Arthur?" The others murmured their agreement, sending Miriam disapproving looks.

To everyone's surprise, it was Rachel who put her arm around Miriam and defended her. "All of you piling on isn't helping the situation." She dug into her handbag and offered Miriam a tissue. "I'm sure Miriam didn't mean for things to, ummm, escalate, the way they did. Why don't you give her a chance to explain?"

Miriam gratefully accepted the tissue and the invitation to justify her actions. "I'm sorry Arthur, I didn't mean to hurt you, your research." She glared at her friends, "but it _is_ true, we've all, _all_ _of us_ , speculated about when you'd retire."

"Yes," Arthur replied drily, "I'm aware of that." He have a huff of laughter at the guilty and surprised looks on the faces of the others. "What? You didn't think word would get back to me? But Miriam, why start this campaign to convince me to retire now?"

"It's my department chair. He's pretty pissed off about the, uh, upheaval, my latest article caused."

There was a bit of snickering at this remark but it was quickly suppressed at Rachel's glare.

"He's been making noises about increasing my teaching load, so I wanted to get out of Princeton. I decided to work on Bill, try to get him to talk Arthur into retiring. When that didn't work, I hoped maybe Arthur would quit if his latest project, kind of, well, kind of, didn't work out."

"You thought _you'd_ be a shoo-in for Arthur's job if he retired?" Mike demanded.

Miriam reddened at the look of incredulity on the faces of her friends. "Why not?" she said defiantly, "my record is good as any of yours." She hurried on as several of them opened their mouths ready to debate this point. "Even if I didn't get it I'm sure the domino effect would help me out."

Rachel looked at Jacob quizzically "domino effect?"

Jacob shook his head, "when a prestigious job like Arthur's is filled it create a series of openings in other institutions. It's happens all the time."

"And you hoped one of those jobs might be right for you?" Rachel asked Miriam gently.

Miriam nodded tearfully. "It never occurred to me what I did would be considered illegal." She looked at Arthur, "I'm so ashamed, so sorry for the trouble I caused you." She pulled away from Rachel, scrubbing at her face with the tissue. "I'll, I'll go now. I don't want to spoil the banquet"

"Don't be so melodramatic, dear," Charlotte said. "When all's said and done, there wasn't any real harm done."

"My work!" Arthur protested.

Charlotte arched an eyebrow, "it was delayed a bit but not harmed, correct?" She paused as Arthur reluctantly nodded in agreement, "so, like I said, no harm done." She looked around the circle of faces surrounding them, "and since we're all friends here, _nothing_ needs to get out. As far as we're all concerned _nothing_ unusual has happened in the past few months."

"Yes, yes, I agree," Arthur said slowly.

There was a moment of silence as the group absorbed their words, then people began to nod grudgingly. While none of them were completely happy they would respect Arthur and Charlotte's decision.

"Good, that's settled then," Charlotte said. "Miriam, come back to the hotel with us, you need to fix your face, wash away those tears."

Miriam followed her docilely. She turned, however, as they reached the door and looked at Rachel. "Thank you. You were very kind." She hesitated, "I didn't deserve it, I was kind of a bitch…."

"It's fine," Rachel smiled. "Water under the bridge."

Miriam nodded in relief as she left the room.

"She's right about one thing," Hanna huffed, "she didn't deserve any kindness from you."

Rachel shrugged, "she's been under a lot of pressure. So she was a little bitchy," her lips twitched, "I've heard worse." She turned to Terrance, "a felony? Really?"

Richard jumped in to explain with a patronizing smile, "Yes, most people don't realize that taking federal money involves putting up with lots of federal strings. They keep quite a close watch on the projects they fund. Any interference, any disruption of the work is looked upon severely." He looked around at the group smugly, "since I've been at Sandia, I've worked pretty closely with the boys from Defense. Unless you've gotten federal money like Arthur and I have you have no idea of how picky the feds can be. They're very possessive of the work they fund."

Rachel worked hard to keep a straight face. "I had no idea. How interesting." She took Jacob's arm. "Now if you'll excuse us, I'd like to get some rest before the banquet."

"I thought it was a misdemeanor," she whispered to Terrance as they walked away.

"Nah," he replied sotto voce, "it's a felony. I checked."

The remaining members of the group watched as the trio from Washington left the room.

"She' a nice little thing," Julia declared. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I think she's perfect for Jacob. He seems a lot happier, more relaxed, than I can remember."

Richard shrugged, "If he's happy with a pretty little nitwit who am I to say nay?"

"She's hardly a nitwit," Hanna protested, "ok, so she's not a scientist, but she's perfectly nice and normal."

"Yeah, well, I say anyone who could forgive Miriam's bitchiness that easy is soft in the head," Richard snorted. "Ten will get you twenty Miriam will be back in form before the banquet's over."

The others ruefully nodded their heads in agreement.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next morning the hotel lobby was once again crowded with symposium participants as people lingered taking leave of old friends and colleagues. Jacob and Rachel were surrounded by the members of the group, Arthur and Charlotte. They were making plans for brunch when Rachel suddenly gave an exclamation of annoyance.

"Damn, I left my cell phone at the registration desk." She went off to retrieve it.

Charlotte watched her wend her way though the crowd. "Jacob, I hope you won't be such a stranger in the future. We'd like to get to know Rachel better." Arthur nodded in agreement.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Agent Zarin looked around the busy hotel lobby and scowled. When he called the hotel asking for SAC Young, he was told she just checked out. But he couldn't spot her in the crowd. He suddenly remembered the other contact info she had given him. He pulled out his cell phone and punched in the number.

Terrance was standing patiently when he felt his phone buzzing. "Agent Mason here." He was startled to hear his name repeated by a man standing a few feet away.

Zarin pushed through the crowd, grinning. As soon as he was in earshot he called out, "Hey, Mason, I'm Zarin, Boston office. Where's the SAC? I need to talk to her."

Terrance nodded in the direction of the registration desk, Rachel could be seen slowly walking back toward them. Zarin nodded his thanks and took off to intercept her. Soon they were talking animatedly.

"Jacob, why did that man call Rachel a sack?" Hanna asked curiously.

Jacob's lips twitched. "S-A-C, not sack," he corrected her. "It's Rachel's title, it stands for Special Agent in Charge."

Richard laughed, "In charge, huh? What's she in charge of? The secretarial pool?"

"Actually," Jacob replied coolly, "she's in charge of the Counter-Terrorism Division." Aside from Arthur and Charlotte, the other's jaws dropped. "It's the reason she came with me." Jacob continued. "We thought initially the sabotage of Arthur's work could be domestic eco-terrorism."

Zarin and Rachel approached the group deep in discussion. Rachel looked up and noticed the members of Hood's entourage watching them in fascination. She slipped into Arabic and Zarin followed along without thinking.

"She … speaks Arabic?" Miriam asked faintly.

Jacob titled his head to one side. "Umhm, she also speaks Pashto and Dari. But she's not as fluent in them."

Once again jaws dropped. Jacob smiled at his old friends a bit maliciously. "Well, it's only to be expected of someone in her position. I mean, she didn't get her job because of her pretty face."

"Uh, yeah, uh what exactly is her background?" Richard asked uncomfortably. It was dawning on him that he had made a fool of himself.

"Rachel majored in Middle Eastern Studies and minored in Arabic languages at NYU. She went to George Washington for law school and then she joined the Bureau. She was with Counter Terrorism before being assigned to my detail. She was transferred back and promoted a few months ago."

Richard and Miriam viewed at the approaching Rachel with astonished looks on their faces. The others in the group were mentally reviewing their interactions with Rachel to see if, or how badly, they had patronized her.

Zarin kept a respectful distance behind Rachel as she returned to the group, satisfaction radiating from her face.

"Good news ma'am?" Terrance asked.

"The best!" Zarin blurted out. "We nailed …."

"Zarin," Rachel spoke softly but her point was loud and clear, this was not the time or place to announce their news.

"Oh, right, sorry," Zarin stammered. He added a belated "ma'am" at Rachel's raised eyebrow.

Jacob smiled faintly, he was used to Rachel putting brash subordinates in their place with a twitch of her eyebrow or a pointed look over her reading glasses. The others were nonplused at the authority she seemed to wield so easily.

"Yes, it was good news." She looked at the expectant faces around her, "but I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say." She turned to Charlotte and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to skip brunch." She looked at Jacob and sighed, "I have to get to D.C., Agent Zarin and I need to brief the EAD. He's going to want to hold a major press conference ASAP."

Zarin broke in, pleased, "you want me to go with you ma'am?"

Rachel bit back a smile and looked him over, he was still dressed for the op in tattered jeans and a t-shirt with a vaguely anti-American slogan. "Yes," she said deadpan, "assuming you have more appropriate clothes."

The man began stammering in earnest, assuring her that yes, indeed, he did have clothes suitable for meeting with the EAD for National Security.

Terrance rolled his eyes, "Dude, she's yanking your chain."

Jacob leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll see you tonight."

Rachel made her farewells to Charlotte and Arthur. She cast an amused glace at the members of the group and gave a slight shake of her head, making it clear what she thought of them. Zarin grabbed her bag and the two of them left the lobby, heads together as they planned their briefing.

Jacob watched her leave with a wishful look; he now understood how she felt when he left on assignment. Shaking himself he turned back to his friends. "Well, I guess we can head out to brunch now."

"Yes," Charlotte said brightly, "I hope you're all hungry, I've prepared a large serving of crow for each of you."


End file.
